Students ready to fight for education

BOSTON (WWLP) - Hundreds of local higher education supporters held a rally at the State House Wednesday to let their elected officials hear loud and clearly they need more funding at public colleges.

These higher education advocates call themselves "Phenom" a group trying to help support affordable learning. About three hundred college students and educators chanted in Boston Common. "We are the leaders of tomorrow. How are we going to do it. We need the money we need the funding," said STCC senior Funto Aina.

They are asking for about 14 million dollars to help pay for more financial aid, seeing that more families are sending their children to public not private colleges due to the economy.

When higher education supporters came inside the State House to meet with Amherst State Senator Stanley Rosenberg he told them there should be stable funding this year, it is the years to come that will be the real concern. "They will be spared because of the stimulus money that said when the dollars are gone there won't be federal money to fill that gap and the campuses are going to be struggling at that point," said Rosenberg.

However these protesters aren't settling for stable funding they say when times get tough the government needs to support the influx of students attending public colleges.

Representatives from UMass Amherst, STCC, and Westfield State were among the many public colleges to meeting with lawmakers Wednesday.