About Western Colorado University Financial Aid Options

The president of Western Colorado University, Greg Salsbury possesses over 40 years of experience as a leader and professional in the educational field. Since joining Western Colorado University (WCU), Greg Salsbury increased the rate of enrollment in the first four years by 21 percent as well as retention rate by 10 percent.

The WCU features five types of financial aid for newcomers and transfers. The scholarships are money-awarded aid based on achievements, whether they are academic, merit, athletic, or program-based. Any student can be considered for a merit scholarship, for example, based on their GPA and ACT/SAT scores.

The work-study and grant programs are both based on financial needs. Besides the financial eligibility, the students applying for grants must complete Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The work-study is an aid for students willing to work as many as 20 hours per week.

The loans consist of borrowed money that must be paid back after graduation, unlike grants. To be considered for a federal loan, the student must complete the FAFSA application and be admitted into a degree-seeking program with at least half-time enrollment. The last WCU financial aid option is the college opportunity fund, which provides a fixed discount to eligible Colorado residents who are attending a public or participating private institution in Colorado.

Saving for Retirement or Paying for a Child’s Education

As the president of Western Colorado University for the past five years, Greg Salsbury has been successful in significantly boosting enrollment and retention rates. Extensively published in his field, Greg Salsbury authored a 2016 opinion piece in Financial Advisor magazine titled “Your Kids’ Education or Your Retirement.”

Focusing on the sequence of returns risk (SORR), Dr. Salsbury describes the “average rate of return on assets over time” as taking a back seat to the size and time frame of asset fluctuations. An example is when negative portfolio returns occur early in retirement and significantly decrease the principal available at the time when positive growth occurs.

For a significant number of boomers, risks increased in recent years through a combination of economic turbulence, underperforming equity markets, and steadily increasing higher education costs. Compounding this were increases in health insurance costs and a persistent inability of household incomes to rise above prerecession highs.

This negatively impacted the SORR since there was less capital available to take advantage of stock market upsurges. With higher education expenses functioning as “premature retirement withdrawals,” many boomers have faced a stark choice between sending their children to university or saving for retirement.

With less available savings, basic retirement costs have taken precedence, which has led to heavier student borrowing for higher education. While this may keep retirees afloat, it places more economic stress on college students and recent graduates, who must now climb out of significant debt.

About the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley’s STEP Program

The president of Western Colorado University, Greg Salsbury is an experienced professional and business leader. Before starting to work at Western Colorado University in 2014, Greg Salsbury was the executive vice president of financial services company, Jackson National Life for five years. He serves as a board and finance committee member of the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley (CFGV).

The CFGV focus point is to promote philanthropy, collaborative leadership and education, and grantmaking. It is a nonprofit foundation that encourages anyone to donate to the community and people in need at Gunnison Valley, Colorado. Among the many programs offered by the CFGV is the Sustainable, Tough, Efficient, Purposeful (STEP) program.

The STEP program is for people interested in getting advice from a consulting bank. Numerous people from different fields of expertise have agreed to donate hours for the STEP program. The community members can apply for up to 12 free hours of consulting time each. Among the topics of advising are board development, coaching, branding, leadership/team building, earned income development, social media, and more.

New Tiebreaker Rules in Tennis

Greg Salsbury assumed the presidency of Western Colorado University in 2014. Over the course of his first four years with the school, enrollment increased by 21 percent, the largest four year enrollment increase in university history. Outside of his work at Western Colorado University, Greg Salsbury enjoys staying physically active, particularly through tennis and pickleball.

The 2019 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic is already being hailed as one of the greatest matches of all time, in part because it was decided by a tiebreaker, the first ever tiebreaker in a final set at the All England Club. Prior to the 2019 tournament, Wimbledon had adhered to advantage rules during the third and fifth sets of women’s and men’s matches, respectively, meaning players would need to break their opponents serve at least once in order to secure victory. Tournament officials opted to introduce a standard 7 point tiebreaker at 12 games all in the final set, partly in response to John Isner’s 2010 and 2018 marathon matches, which ended 70-68 and 24-22, the former lasting nearly 12 hours.

Wimbledon became the second major tournament to introduce a final set tiebreaker, following the US Open, which has utilized a traditional tiebreaker since 1970. Just weeks after the Wimbledon announcement, the Australian Open made a similar decision, though the tournament settled on a 10 point tiebreaker at six games all. Heading into the 2020 grand slam season, the French Open remains the only major to utilize advantage scoring in deciding sets.