{"id":24680,"date":"2024-11-26T12:31:03","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T19:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hickenlooper-addresses-concerns-from-college-student-leaders\/"},"modified":"2024-11-26T19:31:03","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T19:31:03","slug":"hickenlooper-addresses-concerns-from-college-student-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hickenlooper-addresses-concerns-from-college-student-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Hickenlooper addresses concerns from college student leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado
Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper in August 2024. (Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Eight student body presidents from Colorado college campuses expressed their fears and hopes to Sen. John Hickenlooper Monday as they prepare for potentially big changes from the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of unrest and uncertainty and fear on campuses for a whole bunch of different reasons,\u201d Hickenlooper told the students on a Zoom call. He said it would take a lot of work to defend funding for many of the concerns students raised.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper said he doesn\u2019t think the Department of Education, which oversees student loans and many grants that serve colleges, will be eliminated as Trump has repeatedly promised to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think they can legally abolish an agency like that but they might try,\u201d he said, calling the threats to higher education funding \u201csobering.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Hickenlooper is hopeful there is a bipartisan middle solution that recognizes there are just as many community colleges in red states as blue states.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident-elect Trump says so many things and says them with such conviction and yet in the end he\u2019s open to negotiation on almost everything,\u201d Hickenlooper said.<\/p>\n

Rising tuition and housing costs<\/div>\n

High tuition and housing costs were students\u2019 No. 1 concern. Alex Radz, student body president at the University of Colorado Boulder, said the average rent in the University Hill neighborhood exceeds $1,500 a month. Students would like to see more funding for housing and accountability for property managers.<\/p>\n

\u201cA frequent problem is when students look to resign a lease for their next year, they\u2019ll only be given about a 10-day notice (regarding) a raise in rent and a lot of times, this rise in prices is more than they can afford,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leilani Domingo, a student and student body president at Colorado Mesa University, said more federal investment is critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile CMU prioritizes affordability, the rising cost of higher education and just life in general, gas prices, groceries \u2013 that remains a huge concern for students and their families,\u201d she told Hickenlooper.<\/p>\n

Students spoke of juggling multiple jobs while depending upon federal student loans to be able to finish their degrees. Over the course of a year, a third to half of students on some campuses are food insecure. They also want more assistance for campus food pantries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is something that we restock on Fridays \u2026 and usually on Monday, as soon as we open, it\u2019s cleared out,\u201d said Alondra Solis, the student body president at CSU Pueblo.<\/p>\n

Other students want more help for middle-class students who don\u2019t qualify for federal financial aid and must instead rely on student loans that will take years to pay off.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s platform talks about \u201cmore affordable alternatives to a traditional four-year college degree\u201d and funding \u201cproven career training programs.\u201d It promises to make higher education more affordable. But during his first presidential term, while Trump\u2019s budget proposals called for expanding Pell Grants, they proposed slashing funding for other student aid programs such as federal work-study programs and public service loan forgiveness. Congress, however, resisted the most drastic cuts.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper told students that efforts will continue to find bipartisan support for expanding and increasing federal Pell Grants for low-income students. The grant is currently $7,395.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many cases, it rarely pays for more than about a third of what your overall costs are,\u201d Hickenlooper said. \u201cBeing able to get that good job that leads to a career is a function and to a certain extent of not coming out of college with $50,000 or $60,000 worth of debt. That just distorts all your choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Access to mental health a top concern<\/div>\n

Students said trying to balance academics, work, home life and paying for rising food and rent costs is increasing stress levels.<\/p>\n

Nick DeSalvo, student body president of Colorado State University, said CSU offers some free counseling services but he said it\u2019s been increasingly difficult to attract and retain psychologists and therapists. That\u2019s because faculty and staff compensation fall behind the average cost of living in the city of Fort Collins, \u201cmeaning that private practice is much more lucrative for a lot of these professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper said the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 was a large investment in mental health services that brought more counseling services to campuses. He said another legislative effort, the Peer-to-Peer Mental Health Act, which helps fund peer-to-peer mental health programs in K-12 schools, could be expanded to colleges.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper noted that first-time college students, especially those who are financially independent or who have low incomes, currently qualify for premium tax credits to help lower the cost of health insurance. Those are set to expire in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to push as hard as we can to make it part of the tax deal,\u201d he said, referring to future Republican-sponsored proposals to cut corporate taxes.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper also said he backs a proposed Health Care Affordability Act that would make the enhanced tax credits permanent.<\/p>\n

The fate of undocumented students<\/div>\n

Several students worry about challenges to institutional support for undocumented students or students from mixed-status families.<\/p>\n

\u201cFederal initiatives that celebrate diversity and fund programs for historically underrepresented students, ensure that higher education remains a place of opportunity for everyone,\u201d said Hailey Kreiling, student body president at Regis University.<\/p>\n

Colorado is one of 25 states that allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper responded to another student\u2019s concern about threats to deport undocumented people, saying they would fight to keep families together.<\/p>\n

He said some Republican senators understand the connection between economic growth and immigrant workers. He\u2019d like a solution that allows American workers\u2019 wages to not be diluted but that also allows for guest worker visas in several industries.<\/p>\n

Climate change is another area of intense concern to students. Contradicting a large body of research, Trump has called climate change a \u201choax.\u201d Students said they want sustainable practices on campus and education that is \u201cclimate-conscious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper, who received a master\u2019s degree in Earth Environmental Science in 1979, said his peers in the 1980s predicted many of the extreme weather conditions that are happening right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re living that reality and there is beginning to appear a sense of urgency that\u2019s got to be driven by college campuses,\u201d he said. \u201cCollege campuses have always been the engine of social change.\u201d<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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