(Photo courtesy of CU Student Government)
This piece is from the CU Independent’s opinion section. Any opinions or views do not represent the CU Independent.
When I first walked into a classroom in Buckingham Hall in the early fall of my freshman year, I was driven by a pretentious vendetta to join as many clubs as possible, as if doing so would magically earn me a group of friends.
It was in that classroom that I met the sole member and president of the College of Media, Communication, and Information Student Government. It was the promise of a $500 semesterly stipend that drew my best friend and I in, but we stayed because the president was cool, and we hoped some of that coolness might rub off on us.
Throughout my first year in student government, membership was dwindling, and no one seemed particularly interested in getting involved. Meetings were sparsely attended, and it often felt as though we were fighting to keep the organization alive. Yet, despite the lack of participation, I found myself becoming increasingly invested in the work we were doing and the community we were trying to build. When the college of CMCI absorbed the Program of Environmental Design, creating the College of Media, Design, and Information, my colleagues and I worked hours to make an absorption agreement combining our two student governments, and what had started as an attempt to make friends had turned into something I genuinely cared about.
The following year, I was appointed vice president of CMDISG, became the sole University of Colorado Boulder Student Government (CUSG) CMDI senator that spring, was serving as acting CMDISG president by April and was voted in to be the 105th CUSG legislative council treasurer in May.
Now, as a CMDI senator and legislative council treasurer in the University of Colorado Student Government, I receive a stipend of roughly $240 every two weeks. It’s not exactly life-changing money, but as a college student, I’ll take what I can get. Unfortunately, that little bit of extra income has come with a rather expensive catch.
The stipend is considered “other financial aid” and counts toward my overall financial aid package. The University of Colorado Boulder caps the amount of financial aid a student can receive at their calculated cost of attendance (COA), which includes tuition, housing, food and other estimated expenses. While CU Boulder administers its financial aid policies, federal regulations limit the amount of aid students can receive under certain programs. When a student’s aid exceeds their COA, the university may be required to adjust their financial aid package
Two weeks ago, I was notified that I owed CU roughly $3,900.
CUSG assured me there were ways to increase my cost of attendance to account for the additional financial aid. Naturally, I assumed this would be a relatively simple process. After all, I wasn’t exactly rolling in dough. I was getting paid to represent my college’s students, and somehow that had turned into a financial liability. Surely, it was all a mistake, right? But after speaking with the Office of Financial Aid, it looks like I’m, quite frankly, fucked.
There is apparently nothing I can do to increase my cost of attendance, and the stipend I receive for my work in student government has left me with a bill of nearly $4,000. So, to recap, I joined a student government because I wanted friends, stayed because I cared about the work and because, and this sounds egotistical, without me, CMDISG would fade into oblivion, and I eventually found myself in a position where I could represent my college’s students. And now, for the privilege of doing so, I owe the university thousands of dollars.
And what really sucks? It’s no one’s fault.
I must be paid through a stipend, as it makes little sense for me to be classified as an hourly employee. I can’t exactly clock in every time I answer an email from a constituent or spend an evening writing a bill, and doing so would raise legitimate concerns about payroll fraud. And while I understand the reasoning behind that decision, it doesn’t change the fact that the money I receive for my work is now costing me thousands of dollars. I don’t blame CUSG for paying me, CMDISG for not warning me and I certainly don’t blame the Office of Financial Aid for following the rules set by the federal government. All are operating within the systems they’ve been given.
I want to make it clear that I genuinely care about student government. I care about the students I represent, the organizations we fund and the work we do to make our university a better place. I didn’t take on these responsibilities because I thought I would get rich. I took them on because I wanted to make a difference, and the stipend was supposed to make that work a little more manageable. Instead, I’m left wondering whether the money I’m being paid is worth the financial burden it’s created.
For students like me, financial aid isn’t some abstract number on a spreadsheet. It’s what allows us to attend college in the first place. Every dollar matters, and an unexpected bill of nearly $4,000 isn’t something most college students can simply absorb. It’s money that could go toward rent, groceries, medical bills, textbooks or any number of other expenses that come with being a student.
CUSG gets a bad reputation for being full of entitled, rich kids, and it’s because of this stipend issue that I understand why. From the outside, getting paid to participate in student government might seem like a privilege reserved for students who can afford to spend their time on extracurriculars. But the reality is that these stipends are meant to compensate students for the work they do, not make them richer. And when that compensation ends up costing students thousands of dollars in financial aid, it raises a much bigger question about who can actually afford to serve in student government. It means that underrepresented groups will remain just that, underrepresented.
I’m not the only one affected by this issue either. In the last three years, I’ve watched at least four people serving in student government have been affected by this, with one having to resign from their position until they could figure the situation out. I don’t have a solution to this problem yet, so this issue will keep on affecting more, and more people.
I do know, however, that students shouldn’t have to choose between participating in student government and maintaining the financial aid they rely on to attend the university. And, readers, if you’re thinking about running for a position, maybe check with a financial aid advisor before doing so.
Yours,
The 105th Legislative Council Treasurer, CMDI Student Government Co-Senator and President
Contact CU Independent Managing Editor Alexia Bailey at Alexia.Bailey@colorado.edu
