Students marching carried more than signs on their way to the Capitol March 3 – many had suggestions for the legislature on how to fix the problems facing higher education.

More than 600 students from across Colorado came to Auraria to rally at the Tivoli Commons and headed to the statehouse to speak out against the budget cuts to higher education. Some students said they have already seen an impact from the budget cuts on their campuses.

Chris Huber, right, and Josef Camaria, left, both students from CSU Fort Collins, show their support March 3 at Colorado’s Higher Education Rally at the State Capitol Building. The students rallied at the Tivoli Commons and then marched to the Capitol building with hundreds of other students from many other colleges from all over Colorado. Photo by Will Morgan

Pikes Peak Community College student Ethan Cabral said teachers at his campus have increased class loads, and some are teaching courses outside their department.

Cabral said he worries about the potential increase in tuition for the next school year, and how he would pay the increase.

Nathan Frie, a student at Colorado State University said his program lost a professor due to an injury and the position has not been filled.

“We don’t have enough money to hire a new one, so we had to combine three classes into two,” he said.

Fellow CSU student Wade Corris, a business administration major, said he has seen an increase in the size of his classes and a decrease in the availability of courses offered.

“Instead of being able to find a class that fits your schedule, you have to arrange your schedule to fit the class,” he said.

At the University of Colorado at Boulder, Daniel Ramos said he has heard discussions surrounding bigger class sizes and program cuts.

“Usually when it comes to budget cuts, programs like Womens’ Studies and Ethnic studies are the first to go,” Ramos said.

Pikes Peak Community College student and Student Government representative Andrew Wilson, who is studying business, said his school has stopped putting paper towels in the bathrooms to save $100,000.

“It’s really difficult to sit there and dry your hands with a hair dryer every time you go to the bathroom. We can’t afford a lot the niceties,” Wilson said.

Daniel Garcia, the student government president at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs said it is time for the legislators to get to work on finding a sustainable revenue source for funding higher education.

He said other student leaders agree with the concept of tuition flexibility, but not without some assurance of oversight from the state.

The idea of tuition flexibility is gaining momentum around the legislature, but no legislation has been introduced.

CU Boulder student Tessa Warner said unfortunately the answer may lie in raising taxes.

“The other states have state funding because their taxes cover that. For some reason Colorado doesn’t want to do that. I’m not sure what that reason is. I know people don’t want to do it unless it personally benefits them,” she said.

If raising taxes were not an option, Warner said she wouldn’t want to make the decision of where else to cut in the budget.

Chris Morales, a Metro student also said the state should increase taxes.

He said corportations should help shoulder the cost of providing more revenue to the state in order to fund higher education.

“I’d tell them to re-think what they are doing and really look deeper,” said Chris Stolz, a Metro aviation major.