Possible sequester impacts on Grand Valley education

The cuts would hit education in the Grand Valley. District 51 and Colorado Mesa University are working to create a plan.

The impacts will mainly affect special education, federal grants and need-based grants. Education officials say programs won’t change, but thousands of students could loose their funding.

District 51 has set funds aside to prepare for these cuts, which at the public school level would only impact programs.

District 51 Melissa Callahan deVita mentioned one challenge, "If the federal government puts a greater burden on the states with respect to Medicare. Those funds at the state level come from the same place as k-12."

The district says if major changes do occur, it will be for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years.

The Vice President for Student Services at CMU John Marshal says it would have an immediate impact for the university, especially with students enrolled in work study.

Marshall said the university will have to take matters into their own hand, "Over the past several years we've seen a substantial increase in the amount of institutional aid we've invested in students that will continue to grow".

Sarah Witmer is a senior at Colorado Mesa University and won't be affected because she is graduating this semester, but her friends rely on those federal grants to pay for their tuition and books. She says if the cuts happen they will have to apply for private scholarships and side step the federal government money altogether.

Witmer said finding scholarships can be time consuming, "I don't think students take advantage, but I think it is very important and there is a lot of money out there."

Students and their parents are encouraged to apply for scholarships to support their education in the future.