CC students rally to save financial aid

After hearing from college administrators on Sunday that nothing is immune from impending budget cuts, about 40 Colorado College students formed a group to advocate that financial aid be spared.

By Tuesday, the group had organized about 250 students for a rally to support their cause and voice their concerns that decreasing the college's $25 million annual financial aid allocation would adversely affect the economic and cultural diversity of the campus.

"We feel that if there's one thing that shouldn't be cut, it's financial aid," said Zachary Rowe, one of the organizers of Tuesday's rally. "It's one of the coolest things about CC - there are students from all over, from all different backgrounds."

Up to $12 million must be shaved from the private college's annual operating budget because of declining endowment values and unanticipated expenses from the ailing financial climate, officials said this month.

The college had planned to increase its share of financial aid by about $1 million each of the next three years, said President Dick Celeste, who attended Tuesday's rally. Now, he said, "We can't take anything off the table."

About 60 percent of CC students receive some form of financial aid, said Jim Swanson of the financial aid office. This year, the college footed $25 million of the $32 million it awarded in financial aid; federal and state programs funded the remainder. Most assistance goes to families who have an adjusted gross income of less than $100,000, Swanson said.

Financial aid packages - including grants, scholarships, loans and work-study programs - are secure for the remainder of this school year, Celeste said.

"The big issue is what do we do about next year's class, and can we sustain the level of aid," Celeste said. "It's a legitimate concern."

Students used the popular social networking Web site Facebook to promote their cause, and in just over 24 hours, about 650 of the school's 2,000 students had signed a petition calling for the college to maintain its current level of financial aid, its commitment to increase need-based aid proportionate to tuition hikes and its active recruitment of culturally diverse students.

CC has increased its ethnic minority population by 6 percent since the 2005-2006 school year, and one in five students in the current freshman class is an ethnic minority, enrollment statistics show.

Students attribute the growth to the school's financial aid program.

"I, like many of you, do not receive financial aid, but I receive the benefits of the ethnic mix and an environment where merit - not income - controls worth, and achievement - not status - controls success," student David Carlson said at the rally.

The college's board will discuss the 2009-10 budget at its February meeting, Celeste said.

Final decisions likely won't be made until May, he said, but the fate of its financial aid program will need to be decided earlier, as applications for next school year are pouring in.

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Contact the writer: 636-0235 or debbie.kelley@gazette.com