Almost 16,400 Metro State students have applied to receive their College Opportunity Fund (COF) stipends. The figure was arrived at by comparing the list of all those who are eligible to register for the college's 2005 Fall Semester against the list of all COF applicants in the state.

"So, this doesn't include new students to come who haven't yet applied to the college," says Registrar Tom Gray. "Nor does it necessarily include all continuing students. It does give us a good sense, though, that the majority of Metro State students are applying for their stipends."

Each week Gray's office will get an updated total. "From here on out, the figure will probably only go up by the hundreds," he says.

Gray asks that faculty remind their in-state students to apply for the stipend, which currently is set at $80 per credit hour pending final passage and gubernatorial approval of the Long Bill.

If students apply for the stipend before June 15, their first Fall Semester tuition bill, which they'll receive in late June or early July, will reflect it. "This doesn't mean that they can't apply after the 15th, but it would be a less stressful process for them to take care of it now," Gray says.