Why Scholarships Matter
Lisa, a high school senior optimistic about college was shocked to find out that it was not affordable. After settling on her choice, she realized that even with good grades, grants and scholarships she would still have to take out student loans.
“I feel like there is no solution to this. By the end of graduate school I owed over $150,000 in student loan debt and, with my on time payments, my balance is now over $200,000.”
“For me,” she adds, “As the oldest of three, there was no possible way for my single mother to fund all of my education. I had to do things the best way I knew how.”
Lisa now works in a field that will help her recover from this student loan debt under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, but this is a ten-year process. In the meantime, she is paying a debt that will never reach a zero balance.
Sadly, this is not a unique story. America’s total student loan debt is now around $1.4 Trillion. According to Forbes, student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category after mortgages.
While there is no immediate solution, the Community College of Aurora (CCA) Foundation has begun to seek alternatives to assist students. Through our premier scholarship program Aurora Gives, the CCA Foundation has created a debt-free path to an associate’s degree for more than thirty students.
For the 2018- 2019 Academic year, the CCA Foundation added sixteen new Aurora Gives Scholarship recipients to the program.
We received a record number of scholarship applications for the fall and need your help to ensure more students have the resources they need. Your gift helps students on the path toward economic prosperity.
To learn more on how to support students’ educational goals or about the Aurora Gives program you can visit www.auroragives.org . To support our Aurora Gives or other scholarship initiatives through Colorado Gives Day please CLICK HERE to schedule your Dec. 4th donation.
