Larry Robinson/The Daily Sentinel
Colorado Mesa University unveiled a tuition plan on Thursday, The Promise, which vows to cover 100% of tuition costs for families whose annual income is $65,000 or less to 22 counties across Western Colorado, seen on the map behind CMU President John Marshall, second from left.
Colorado Mesa University on Thursday evening announced the CMU Promise — an initiative to cover 100% of tuition costs for Western Slope students who come from families with an annual income of $65,000 or less.
The CMU Promise will go into effect next fall, covering all costs for students from low- or modest-income families from 22 counties across the entirety of Western Colorado if they attend any CMU campus, including CMU Tech and any satellite campuses.
The 22 counties where students will be eligible to benefit from the CMU Promise are Mesa, Delta, Montrose, Gunnison, Garfield, Pitkin, Lake, Summit, Eagle, Rio Blanco, Grand, Jackson, Routt, Moffat, Ouray, San Miguel, Hinsdale, San Juan, Dolores, Montezuma, La Plata and Archuleta counties.
CMU President John Marshall credited the university’s partnerships with Mesa County, the City of Grand Junction, the state, private philanthropy and Mesa County Valley School District 51 as instrumental in building the foundation for the CMU Promise.
Larry Robinson/The Daily Sentinel
Colorado Mesa University President John Marshall speaks Thursday to media during the unveiling of CMU’s tuition plan — the CMU Promise — which vows to cover 100% of tuition costs for families whose annual income is $65,000 or less to 22 counties across Western Colorado.
“We’re going to find a way to make sure that everyone in Western Colorado who wants to earn a college credential, whether that’s a one-year in electric linemen and welding or a four-year degree in accounting or engineering, can. We’re going to make sure that finances are not a barrier for our low and middle-income families,” Marshall said.
“CMU’s been working on this for a number of years. For decades, we’ve worked to become a leader in affordability around this national narrative around college. Unfortunately, that national narrative has increasingly sounded like college is too expensive and you’re going to have to take on too much debt, and frankly, first-generation, low-income families can’t afford it and it’s not a good bet. We’re here today to say that’s not true, and the CMU Promise is our way of putting our money where our mouth is.”
Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout, an alumnae of then-Mesa State College, said this announcement felt like a full-circle moment for her, given her own experience with the burden of paying for an education.
“I would not be here today without Mesa. If I were a student right now, I would qualify based on what my family’s situation was when I was in high school, so it’s pretty amazing to be standing here now as an adult taking part in this announcement, still paying down my student loans,” Stout said.
Larry Robinson/The Daily Sentinel
Colorado Mesa University unveiled a tuition plan on Thursday dubbed “The Promise,” which vows to cover 100% of tuition costs for families whose annual income is $65,000 or less to 22 counties across Western Colorado. Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout, right, praised the initiative: “I’m thrilled that we’re doing this as a community,” she said at the press conference.
“I’m thrilled that we’re doing this as a community and as an institution, and (I’m thrilled about) the leadership that we see before us here today in making sure that students in our community who want to study don’t have income as a barrier to doing so…. On behalf of students like me, from single mothers to single-parent households with siblings with a desire to study and be something more in this world, thank you so much, CMU.”
CMU Board of Trustees Vice Chair Lori Buck said the CMU Promise will not only assist students who want to further their education but also improve the hiring pool for Grand Valley businesses.
“For many, higher education seems like it’s out of reach, but with this initiative, CMU and CMU Tech are communicating that financial barriers should never be a reason for students in Western Colorado to not a pursue a degree,” Buck said. “We’re hearing loud and clear from our local employers that they need qualified people for positions they have today, and we’re very thrilled that we can answer that calling and help grow our own workforce.”
Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis provided insight into both the county and the business community’s reaction to the CMU Promise, calling the initiative “so stinkin’ cool.”
Larry Robinson/The Daily Sentinel
Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis, right, addresses the media Thursdya alongside Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout during the unveiling of CMU’s plan to cover 100% of tuition costs for families whose annual income is $65,000 or less to 22 counties across Western Colorado.
“As a business owner, the biggest thing we struggle with is skilled labor in the community. This is another tool we have now to up-skill or re-skill our community members,” Davis said. “Everybody knows that here in Mesa County, or even in the region, the most important thing to an economy is a skilled workforce. It’s a major pillar of an economy. Mesa County for a long time has invested in a skilled workforce with our workforce development center, partnerships with CMU and other organizations in the community.”
The CMU Promise will also benefit students at Colorado Mesa’s sites outside of Mesa County, such as the Montrose campus. Montrose Mayor Pro Tem David Reed, a former CMU trustee, spoke about how this initiative will expand access to education for students in and around the Montrose area.
“As a community, we’ve identified that a strategic partnership between the university and the city and region of Montrose is critical to our economic development. We’re seeing that partnership growing, fostering and becoming more viable, quite frankly, on a monthly basis,” Reed said. “What we’re announcing here today is only going to further and enhance that relationship. We’re so darn proud to be a part of this.”
Marshall closed CMU’s press conference with a message for families who will have students eligible for the CMU Promise starting next year: “College is possible and we’re going to help you figure it out. The CMU Promise says that, if your family is at a modest income, we’re going to help you figure it out.”
