Some college students are turning to crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe to help fund their college education and ease the burden of student loans.
Crowdfunding sites give people the ability to ask friends, family, and strangers to fund something that they struggle to afford otherwise. With $1.2 trillion in student loan debt and many students struggling to pay for college, they have turned to crowdfunding sites to relieve themselves of the burden.
KMGH in Denver profiled two area college students who set up GoFundMe pages to fund their educational pursuits.
Adrianne Garcia, who is pursuing an art degree at Metro State University, created a GoFundMe page to help pay for her education after realizing her financial aid wouldn’t cover her summer semester. Although she asked for $1,700, she received $1,900 in donations.
“I did it. It was really scary. I didn’t think anyone would care or be able to donate,” Garcia said. “I feel like people really cared and related to me. Even if they didn’t know me, I think they saw something about themselves in what I was trying to do.”
Kati Stanford, a graduate student at the University of Denver pursuing a master’s in alternative dispute resolution, created a GoFundMe page to ask for money to sell art. She turned to GoFundMe after financial aid and scholarships couldn’t cover all expenses.
“I remember I was sitting in a coffee shop and I was working on all of these scholarships and I was just feeling so frustrated,” Stanford said. “I though, why not? Why not do this?”
KMGH found three other students in the Denver area who created GoFundMe pages to pay for their college education.
With college tuition costs and student debt on the rise, it’s possible that more students will turn to crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe to allow other people to help them cover the costs of college education.
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