Colorado College will now bill by the year, offer 9-month and 2-semester payment plans

Plus, administrators unroll new student employment protocols

Good morning, and happy Wednesday. On this pre-pandemic date last year, some students were wrapping up their duties as Summer Resident Advisers for Colorado College’s Summer Session program. (Because of the pandemic, students took summer classes this year via distance learning in Blocks A and B, and the college cancelled its pre-college program).

Today, we explain changes to Colorado College’s student employment policies, new tuition billing and payment methodologies.  

➡️ICYMI: Yesterday, we talked to Brian Young, Colorado College’s vice president for Information Technology and chair of the college’s Prevention Work Team. He told us about the updated testing protocols for campus this fall. We also recapped Monday’s Town Hall on testing.

Graphic republished with permission from Director of Financial Aid Shannon Amundson. Note: Amundson encourages students to follow up with Financial Aid for additional information before making decisions.

Pay for 6 blocks, enroll in up to 10. No more than 2 regular jobs. What the updated tuition and student employment policies mean for students and families

Last Thursday, The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project interviewed Director of Financial Aid Shannon Amundson to ask about the college’s new billing schedule, changes to student employment, and the pandemic’s impact on financial aid.

‘Buy 3, get 1 free’: How tuition will work with CC’s new 10-block year

During the 2020-21 academic year, Colorado College is offering students 10 full blocks, instead of the traditional eight and a half. Full-time students will be paying $60,390 in tuition this year, roughly 5% more than they would have in 2019-20, but the college has said the per-block cost is lower, since it is spread out over 10 blocks rather than eight. This year, the per-block cost works out to about $6,039 if a student enrolls in all 10 blocks.

In an email Friday, the Office of Student Accounts explained that the college is charging all 2020-21 fees in the fall semester. The first payment is due Sept. 8. 

“This year we are billing by the year,” Amundson tells The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project. “And so what that means for students, they are offering a nine-month payment plan, a two-semester payment plan. Nobody has to pay it all upfront, so that doesn’t change.”

The two additional blocks have resulted in some new ways to conceptualize the breakdown of the academic calendar and billing methodology.  

“This year we’re moving forward with a ‘Buy three, get one free; buy the next three, get up to three free’ model,” Vice President for Enrollment Mark Hatch told The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project in an interview last week. 

Essentially, if students pay for three blocks in a semester, they have paid for the entire semester because taking three blocks per semester is considered full-time, and the fourth block would be free. The per block charge for those first three blocks is $10,144, one-third of the semester tuition cost. 

If the student enrolls in three more blocks for the second semester, they would pay for the first three — Blocks J, 5 and 6 — but could take up to six blocks if they also enroll in Blocks 7, 8 and A. In Friday’s email, the college provided some possible enrollment scenarios. 

According to Amundson, the college has been focused on getting students back to campus, and at this time, there have not been discussions about reducing tuition for this year. Given that the college considers three blocks to be full-time, there are no refunds if a student takes one block off during the semester.

Students who are considering enrolling in a reduced course load or taking remote classes from home should email financial aid for estimates on their total cost. Amundson says the more information students can provide, the more accurate their estimates will be. 

According to the Financial Aid FAQ page: The college will disburse aid “based on enrollment and, thus, aid will remain proportional to charges.”

Do you still have questions about tuition and billing? Colorado College is holding a Town Hall this Thursday at 11 a.m. MT.

CC limits students to 2 regular jobs, asks supervisors to fill open positions with work-study students.

Last year, Amundson says administrators started discussing how to bring more equity to student employment as part of the college’s Antiracism Initiative. When the pandemic hit, it accelerated the implementation plans for some of those changes.

“We’re really concerned with limited number of jobs on campus because we have limited hours and limited staff that we can even have in buildings,” Amundson says. “We were going to have some students who were working five and six jobs, and some students who couldn’t find a job.” There are about 1,300 jobs on campus but only about 1,000 students work, she later added. 

The college rolled out some of the changes to student employment in a recent email to the campus community. Here are some highlights:

• The college will limit students to two “regular” jobs, or jobs offering weekly hours to students. This will not affect temporary jobs with inconsistent hours or a short time frame, such as First-Year Program mentors or New Student Orientation leaders.

• Effective immediately and lasting until Block 3, supervisors will only hire work-study eligible students to fill new positions. Once Block 3 starts, supervisors can hire non-work-study students.

• This year, students cannot earn work-study through in-person jobs off campus. The Collaborative for Community Engagement is working on developing alternative paid opportunities for remote work with local organizations.

• All students are allowed to return to campus starting Sept. 21. If a student continues to reside outside of Colorado, they will be unable to work remotely for on-campus positions.

• If a supervisor has to cut hours for student employees, Amundson says they would ask the supervisor to prioritize work-study students when determining student hours.

Funds available to provide assistance to students facing ‘unanticipated expenses’ because of the pandemic.

About 35% of Colorado College’s student body is on need-based financial aid, Amundson estimates. But since the beginning of the pandemic, the financial aid office is receiving more appeals from families who have lost jobs.

Amundson also serves on the Emergency Request Committee, which evaluates all requests for additional funding from CC students impacted by the pandemic. As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the college received $1,151,391 in federal funding. The college will provide at least 50% of that funding, or about $575,696, directly to students affected by the pandemic’s disruptions to campus life. Amundson says they’ve given out over $350,000 so far to over 350 students for assistance in moveout, food, and summer housing. Additionally, the college developed a Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund for students to provide assistance for these “unanticipated expenses.” The funds are only available for student expenses, not for family expenses, the website states. To request support from either fund, students should email emergencyrequests@coloradocollege.edu. 

“We’ve kind of seen a downturn in requests,” Amundson says. “We’ve heard from some student groups that there are people out there silently needing help. ... All of that is still functioning and still ready to help students if we hear from people.”

About the CC COVID-19 Reporting Project

The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project is a student-faculty collaboration by Colorado College student journalists Miriam Brown and Arielle Gordon, Journalism Institute Director Steven Hayward, Visiting Assistant Professor of Journalism Corey Hutchins, and Assistant Professor of English Najnin Islam. Work by Phoebe Lostroh, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at CC and National Science Foundation Program Director in Genetic Mechanisms, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, will appear from time to time, as will infographics by Colorado College students Rana Abdu, Aleesa Chua, Sara Dixon, Jia Mei, and Lindsey Smith.

The project seeks to provide frequent updates about CC and other higher education institutions during the pandemic by providing original reporting, analysis, interviews with campus leaders, and context about what state and national headlines mean for the CC community. 

📬 Enter your email address to subscribe and get the newsletter in your inbox each time it comes out. You can reach us with questions, feedback, or news tips by emailing ccreportingproject@gmail.com.