Many students of color in Colorado Springs and El Paso County are missing out on the chance to further their education because they aren’t aware of the financial aid opportunities available to them, according to officials from local nonprofits.

“Youth are leaving money on the table,” said Regina Walter, executive director of Educating Children of Color. “There are scholarship and financial aid opportunities that they are unaware of that could be used to level the playing field. They just have to know about it, and how to access it.”

Colorado Springs-based Sachs Foundation accepting scholarship applications

A lot of local and national organizations offer grants and scholarships to students of color and other young people in underserved communities, Walter said. But many of them have trouble even getting people to apply for them, which is a source of frustration for Walter. College can be more than just a pipe dream for these students, and many of them don’t know it, she said.

“Last year, (Educating Children of Color) gave away $125,000 in STEAM scholarships, and we only had 38 qualified applicants,” Walter said. “So many students think school is not an option for them, or that it’s fruitless, or that they will graduate with massive amounts of debt.”

It’s a legitimate concern, according to the Sachs Foundation, a Colorado Springs-based nonprofit that has awarded grants and scholarships to more than 3,000 Black Coloradans since its 1931 inception.

Black students face a rougher educational road than their white counterparts, foundation President Ben Ralston said. They are more likely than white students to leave school for financial reasons, and Black college graduates, on average, leave school with greater debt.

“We are looking at data in Colorado and across the country, and the gap is still a large one,” Ralston said.

Underprivileged students are often uninformed because they don’t have a parent who attended college and can help them navigate the financial aid and scholarship application process, Walter said.

“The money is there, for a lot of students who don’t think college is a reality,” Walter said. “You just have to know where to look.”

For example, the College Opportunity Fund, created by the Colorado legislature in 2004, will provide a stipend to help eligible students pay in-state tuition. El Cinco de Mayo, an El Paso County-based nonprofit, offers scholarships to underserved students who either live or attend college within the county. The Daniels Fund, a Denver-based organization, also offers educational funding for eligible students.

Educating Children of Color, Peak Education, the Sachs Foundation’s Elevated program and the African American Youth Leadership Conference recently hosted a scholarship, financial aid and college application workshop in Colorado Springs. The session offered information on little-known financial aid opportunities, college application and essay instruction, and speakers from the United Negro College Fund. Attendance at the event was sparse, officials said.

“Sessions like this are critical because they inform students of where to look for financial aid opportunities, and how to write a good scholarship essay that will set them apart from their peers,” Walter said. “It would have been nice to have a (bigger) turnout.”

Shantelle Bridges, executive director of the African American Youth Leadership Conference, echoed Walter’s sentiments.

“It’s frustrating when we know that money is available to students and they don’t know how to find the information,” Bridges said.

Colorado Springs-based nonprofit receives USAA grant to expand scholarship program

The leadership conference offers a stipend of $500 per semester to help offset secondary expenses like books, supplies and transportation costs. All that students have to do is prove they are enrolled in college. But the organization sometimes has trouble giving the money away, Bridges said.

“We try to give away about 10 of those a year, and sometimes we have only a handful of students applying,” she said. “When we see the number of students who apply for these opportunities, it’s disappointing.”

The group plans to hold another workshop during the spring semester, and Walter, Bridges and other nonprofit leaders have their fingers crossed for a better turnout.

“All we can do is keep trying,” Walter said. “We won’t give up on these kids.”