People who are solicited at their homes for donations to help students participate in CU-Boulder's Study Abroad program beware: no such fund-raising program exists and any "donations" made to it will not be used for overseas schooling but probably will wind up in the solicitor's pocket.
Responding to concerns from a Golden resident who called about a recent incident, CU-Boulder's Study Abroad Director Nancy Stubbs said CU's program "never sends students out to solicit money as a fund raiser. We give scholarships to students but we would never do door-to-door solicitation or ask students to do it," Stubbs said. "It's simply not done."
The Golden resident told Stubbs a "student" knocked on the door of her home and "said she was a CU student and that she needed to collect points to raise money to study in Barcelona." The "student" mentioned CU's Study Abroad program. Further into her pitch, the "student" asked the woman for a donation to gain "points" for the program.
"The Study Abroad program does raise money from donors and alumni who contribute to our scholarship fund. These funds, in addition to regular financial aid, are used to help students afford the extra costs of study abroad," Stubbs said. The donations and financial aid help students pay for Study Abroad in the 160 countries where CU-Boulder sends students. Door-to-door solicitation is not included.
"Every single time this has happened, which has been almost annually since 2000, it's been a scam, and sometimes it has involved magazine sales," Stubbs said. "They always claim it's in the name of the University of Colorado, and that's simply not true."
Persons who are solicited by young people posing as CU-Boulder students raising money for Study Abroad should contact their local police department, Stubbs said.