Spring Break
Students to protest higher ed. cuts Monday
ASCSU to lead rallying effort at the Capitol
Elyse Jarvis
Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: News
The Associated Students of CSU will help lead a protest at the state Capitol Monday in response to this week's proposal by Colorado legislators that $300 million be cut from next year's budget for higher education and universities be given heightened leeway to raise tuition dollars.
Taylor Smoot, student government president, told the Collegian that ASCSU will be taking a van and arranging a carpooling system for students interested in rallying in Denver.
Student government officials and interested students are to meet in the ASCSU office, located on the first level of the Lory Student Center, at 8 a.m. Monday for an 8:30 a.m. departure.
Smoot said that students from universities across the state -- including CSU-Pueblo, CU-Boulder and CU-Denver, the University of Northern Colorado, Mesa State University, Metro State University and Fort Lewis College -- will attend the protest.
In an effort to balance the state's budget, Colorado's Joint Budget Committee announced Wednesday that it will cut state funding for higher education funding in half, attempting to divert money from a worker's compensation fund to fill in the gap instead.
Additionally, the JBC approved giving universities a heightened spending authority, raising the tuition cap from 6.5 percent to 9 percent. This would effectively give state schools free reign to raise tuition to "where they feel the market will bear," said Don Marostica, Larimer County's JBC representative, on Wednesday.
Interim CSU President Tony Frank said Friday that only raising tuition to fill in the funding gap at CSU -- which translates to half of the $130 million it previously received, he said -- would be bad educational policy.
"The challenge with the $300 million is that that number is so large that tuition almost becomes a moot point," he said.
"I don't think you can raise tuition that rapidly that fast without driving down your enrollment."
Frank said the university is hoping the legislature will reverse its decision, instead spreading cuts across various avenues that receive state money rather than just cutting from higher education.
Taylor Smoot, student government president, told the Collegian that ASCSU will be taking a van and arranging a carpooling system for students interested in rallying in Denver.
Student government officials and interested students are to meet in the ASCSU office, located on the first level of the Lory Student Center, at 8 a.m. Monday for an 8:30 a.m. departure.
Smoot said that students from universities across the state -- including CSU-Pueblo, CU-Boulder and CU-Denver, the University of Northern Colorado, Mesa State University, Metro State University and Fort Lewis College -- will attend the protest.
In an effort to balance the state's budget, Colorado's Joint Budget Committee announced Wednesday that it will cut state funding for higher education funding in half, attempting to divert money from a worker's compensation fund to fill in the gap instead.
Additionally, the JBC approved giving universities a heightened spending authority, raising the tuition cap from 6.5 percent to 9 percent. This would effectively give state schools free reign to raise tuition to "where they feel the market will bear," said Don Marostica, Larimer County's JBC representative, on Wednesday.
Interim CSU President Tony Frank said Friday that only raising tuition to fill in the funding gap at CSU -- which translates to half of the $130 million it previously received, he said -- would be bad educational policy.
"The challenge with the $300 million is that that number is so large that tuition almost becomes a moot point," he said.
"I don't think you can raise tuition that rapidly that fast without driving down your enrollment."
Frank said the university is hoping the legislature will reverse its decision, instead spreading cuts across various avenues that receive state money rather than just cutting from higher education.
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