The Columbia Chronicle

Columbia addresses “severe financial shortfall” for the upcoming school year

August 14, 2020

Following months of costly expenditures and a loss of revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic and with more losses to come during the fall semester, the college announced a set of budget reduction me...

Most Columbia students will receive a $250 check and can additionally apply for a larger grant as part of the more than $3 million allocated for students under the CARES Act, but federal guidelines leave undocumented, DACA and international students ineligible.

Most Columbia students to receive grants, but CARES Act won’t entirely offset college losses

April 28, 2020

Most Columbia students will receive some form of federal financial aid as part of the CARES Act, through a one-time $250 check and potentially a larger emergency grant, the college announce...

Vice President of Enrollment Management Michael Joseph said he is optimistic for enrollment numbers for next year during a Nov. 8 Faculty Senate meeting held at Stage Two, 618 S. Michigan Ave.

Making Columbia more affordable could increase already-growing enrollment

November 15, 2019

More than a year after Vice President of Enrollment Management Michael Joseph updated Faculty Senators on the college’s encouraging Fall 2019 enrollment numbers, he told senators he is expecting ano...

America’s ‘Wild Card’: The next four years with Trump

November 16, 2016

History was made Nov. 9 when, with 290 electoral votes, a president with no political or military service experience was elected to office. Without the political acumen that presidents usually enter into th...

SFS: Nationwide FAFSA change simplifies ‘tedious’ process

By Campus Reporter

October 3, 2016

Students can now submit their 2017–18 Free Application for Federal Student Aid as soon as Oct. 1, according to a Sept. 27 email Student Financial Services sent to students.The new timeline allows stu...

Students protested Illinois’ unfulfilled promise of distributing Monetary Award Program grants outside the Thompson Center Feb. 16.

Higher-ups should reconsider decision not to fund MAP grants

April 4, 2016

Columbia has now joined many other colleges statewide in facing increased struggles—or a complete inability—to provide students with the state-funded grant aid they rely on to attend college, such as...

Sticking to the plan

February 1, 2016

Senior college administrators reported to faculty and staff about the progress made during the first year of the Strategic Plan’s implementation at the initial Town Hall meeting of the Spring 2016 Semes...

Budget crisis likely to turn students, businesses away

By Editor-in-Chief

February 1, 2016

As tensions surrounding the Illinois budget stalemate continue to build, concerns for the future of higher education in the state are gaining momentum. Questions regarding the delayed disbursement of state-funded grants and scholarships like the Monetary Award Program Grant have escalated into queries of the validity and strength of colleges and universities operating in a state that hasn’t had a functional budget for m...

Cynthia Grunden, assistant vice president of Student Financial Services, joined the college on Feb. 2, 2015.

AVP of Student Financial Services talks financial aid, payment plans

June 24, 2015

New students have many responsibilities to manage as they settle into their new college homes. Between organizing your move-in date, color coordinating your new bedroom and choosing which “Welcome W...

Budget transparency goes digital

March 30, 2015

Students wondering what their tens of thousands of tuition dollars are doing within the college’s budget can now know with the launch of the college’s new budget web pages. Developed by Michelle Gat...

Enrollment declines, national average rises

February 16, 2015

While the national enrollment of students at four-year private, nonprofit colleges has increased in recent years, Columbia, like other private colleges in Illinois, has suffered continuous enrollment ...

Surviving the big pay off

By Maria Castellucci & Matt McCall Opinions Editor & Features Editor

October 27, 2014

Russell Harrison might never have paid off his student loans if he hadn’t had his debt consolidated.Upon graduating in 2008 from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, after receiving a bachelor’s of arts in music composition, he owed $40,000–50,000 in private and federal student loans. At the time, he was working at 7-Eleven and a Millworks furniture construction factory, operating heavy machinery. He worked mornings an...