Specialized mannequins that aspiring nurses use to practice life-saving interventions can run up to a half-million dollars each. The cost of materials and tools used to train welders is skyrocketing.
Yet community colleges and small rural colleges in Colorado that sustain those critical fields are often the most underfunded institutions, and they’re serving some of the neediest populations.
It’s a conundrum that has worsened as millions of dollars in awarded federal grants are snatched back and the state budget shrinks. As the fall semester finished up, college officials tallied their losses, shifted funds to keep some programs afloat and braced for more financial chaos.
“That’s the one thing that’s been interesting about this process (of cuts),” said Chato Hazelbaker, president of Pueblo Community College. “Grants were always a commitment.
“In my entire career — and I’ve been at the executive level 15-20 years — we have never had this degree of instability,” he continued. “There’s a constant need to react to things. You can’t set a budget or even look at a program and project for it if it’s two to three years out.”
What’s been cut
In early September the U.S. Department of Education announced it would withhold $350 million in grant funding that had been allocated for fiscal year 2025 because the money was going to programs with what the department called discriminatory racial or ethnic quotas — part of the Trump Administration’s effort to eliminate all so-called DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs.
Ironically, a certain percentage of minority enrollment was required to earn the Minority or Hispanic Serving Institution designation, established by Congress in 1992, that made colleges eligible for certain grants. Colorado has 16 Hispanic Serving Institutions and 10 emerging ones — which means they are in the process of qualifying, according to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. It also has one Native American Serving Institution.
Colorado colleges and universities lost more than $15 million in the September round of federal cuts.
All of it was previously awarded grant money flowing to programs established under the provision of the grant, which meant the programs had to be cut or the college had to find other money. Usually, the impact depended on how far into the grant cycle they were.
A $3 million loss for Lamar Community College hit hard because it was at the beginning of a five-year grant and had hired staff and made other preparations for launching the program, said Fiona Lytle, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Community College System. LCC officials did not respond to calls and email messages about the cut.
Pueblo Community College lost the last year of funding in a five-year grant, a $670,000 cut, Hazelbaker said. The college had a sustainability plan and was able to shift resources to keep the coaching and advising program for first-year students that the grant had funded.
Adams State University in Alamosa took a couple of hits, totaling about $4 million, President David Tandberg said in an interview.
The college was designated an Hispanic Serving Institution in 1998 — the first in the state — and since 2000 has been awarded more than $32 million in federal Title III and Title V grants. Title III programs generally are aimed at helping institutions expand programs for low-income students, and Title V funds typically provide general support for minority-serving institutions.
“We are a small, under-resourced institution and those dollars have been critical for us to innovate, try new things, implement policies and programs for our students,” Tandberg said, noting that the programs served all students.
The university in October also announced it would cut its College Assistance Migrant Program, started in 1972 using federal grant funds, to help the children of migrant workers reach educational goals. It was one of the first four colleges to launch CAMP programs and has served about 1,600 students.
The program helped the families of the migrant farmworkers in the San Luis Valley, Tandberg said. “That’s migrant, not immigrant, but sometimes people conflate the two. There were no race or ethnicity requirements.”
Other colleges are bracing for more grant cuts, including what are known as federal TRIO programs, such as Upward Bound, Talent Search and a variety of student support services such as tutoring and help in navigating financial aid. The Trump Administration has delayed or cut thousands of TRIO grants, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Colorado Mountain College President Matt Gianneschi said they have TRIO programs on five of the 11 campuses scattered across the mountains and are watching closely to see if they are hit. CMC was just qualifying for Title V grants when those programs were cut, he said.
If the TRIO programs are cut, the college would have to absorb up to $2 million in personnel and other costs, he said, or make trims to them.
Other cuts
Gov. Jared Polis cut about $12 million in higher education funding when the current year state budget fell short, and that was spread across institutions.
Some examples: Adams State took a midyear cut of $209,102 to its general fund and a $32,500 cut to its rural nursing program. Pueblo Community College lost $230,000 in state funding and Colorado Mountain College was cut $150,000. Trinidad State College took a $200,000 hit.
College officials said there were some indirect cuts, including some small faculty grants and reductions from partnerships between institutions.
Some college officials said their reserves were in good shape so they could weather short-term cuts. But there’s much uncertainty about future sources of funding.
The college presidents interviewed all pointed out that community colleges and small rural universities fill a different need than major research universities — they build skilled workforces.
“We just really have a different business than Ivy League and big colleges,” Hazelbaker said. “I train nurses and police officers.”
His goal is to get students into jobs that pay at least $32 an hour, and the college works closely with local businesses.
The cost of workforce development
Industrial arts, medical and similar programs are costly.
Take for example, the nursing program at Pueblo Community College that graduates about 100 nurses a year — about half of the number needed in Pueblo County. PCC also has nursing programs at its campuses in Fremont County and Mancos.
All three campuses have simulation labs, in part because the Colorado State Board of Nursing requires nurse education programs to include clinical simulation and clinical experience.
The largest is the Pueblo Simulation Center, which is in the east wing of St. Mary Corwin Hospital. It serves multiple health programs at PCC and also supports hospitals and other organizations.
The center has five patient rooms — occupied by Apollo, Lucina, METIMan, Pediatric Hal and Newborn Tory, all high-fidelity human patient simulators. Add in beds, monitors, pumps — anything you’d find in a hospital room or clinic — and you’ve got a mighty expensive setup.
The cost of a fully outfitted simulation lab can easily reach six figures — or higher, Nicole Gennetta, simulation lab coordinator at PCC, said in an email.
Besides the nursing program it also is used for students in dental hygiene, occupational therapy assistant, radiologic technology and medical assistant programs.
The simulation center at the Fremont Campus in Cañon City is getting an upgrade, courtesy of a $2 million donation from Walter Schepp, a local resident and long-time supporter of the Fremont Campus. The 2,700-square-foot addition will cost about $1.8 million, and the remainder will be used for equipment, according to a news release.
Those involved in the community and rural college business hope that federal money cut from Title III and Title V programs will get redirected to workforce development classes so that communities can have the skilled workers they need.
“The most in-demand programs right now are the programs that have significant costs — health, EMT, fire science, skilled trades,” Gianneschi said. “They’re capital intensive and the costs for equipment — like those simulation mannequins — some are upwards of a half a million dollars. They’re really impressive and awe-inspiring and also super expensive.”
Lytle said the fear of course, is that the federal grant money will be eliminated rather than redirected.
And everyone was concerned about the disruption to programs and students when funding is cut midstream.
“It’s a reasonable discussion to have — should we be doing these designations differently?” Hazelbaker said. “I’m anticipating that they will probably morph in some way.
“We’re in great shape for the next year or two. The long term, though, is really rather frightening.”