Colorado State University Student To Discuss Financial Aid Programs With President Clinton
Wednesday, January 8, 1997
Note: Valerie Estrada is available for media interviews
before and after the press conference Jan. 9 in
Washington, D.C. Call the Loews L-enfant Plaza Hotel,
(202) 484-1000.
FORT COLLINS--A student at Colorado State University will
speak with President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office Jan. 9 about
the importance of the nation's student financial aid programs.
Valerie Estrada, 38, is one of six students nationwide
invited to attend a press conference at the White House, where
the president is expected to make several announcements regarding
student aid.
Following the press conference, Estrada will meet with
President Clinton in private to tell a personal story about how
financial aid enabled her to go to college. She graduates in May
with a bachelor's degree in social work.
"I am really excited about this opportunity," Estrada said
prior to leaving for her trip Wednesday morning. "I was the one
nobody ever thought would do anything. I had no hope."
Estrada is a Denver native and the oldest of seven children
whose family lived in poverty. Estrada became pregnant at age 16
and dropped out of high school, married, and raised three
daughters. In 1991, Estrada separated from her husband and
enrolled at Colorado State.
But two weeks before classes started, Estrada's brother was
diagnosed with AIDS. The single mother of three struggled to make
ends meet and attend school while also serving as her brother's
caretaker.
Estrada's college career was put on hold again when her
oldest daughter was involved in a serious car accident in April
1992, which required Estrada to stay home with her daughter for
several months. Two months after the accident, Estrada's brother
died.
Despite all the obstacles, Estrada returned to Colorado
State full-time in the fall of 1993 and became one of the first
to receive financial aid from the new Federal Direct Student Loan
program.
Colorado State was chosen as one of 100 universities
nationwide to participate in the direct loan program, which
streamlined the way student loans were processed and distributed,
said G. Kay Jacks, director of enrollment services at Colorado
State. Under the program, students applied for loans directly
from the university instead of through banks, making the process
less confusing and more efficient, she said.
"The direct loan program has enabled students like Valerie
to succeed and enabled Colorado State to provide better service,"
Jacks said.
When Estrada isn't in class, she works in the financial aid
office helping new students apply for student loans and other
financial help. Recently married to Colorado State student
Phillip Gallegos, Estrada hopes to apply her degree toward
helping other minority students go to college.
"I would have never made it without the support of student
loans and the university," Estrada said. "I want President
Clinton to know just how important that is to thousands of other
students just like me."
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