Blood from a stone

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For a select group of students, the current round of final exams will be their last before they are duly awarded their degrees. Yet no sooner have they begun cramming, then calls start coming from alumni organizations asking for donations.

"I told them there was just no way," said one surprised soon-to-be-graduate from Concordia. "I have absolutely no money."

Why do fundraisers target dirt-poor students during the exam crunch? "The hardest part is trying to catch them before they move," explains Colleen Weddell, a fundraiser for Concordia's Office of University Advancement and Alumni Relations.

Of the estimated 3000 students who graduate from Concordia every year, roughly 20 per cent say they will participate in the donation program. "The pledge rate is good," said Weddell, "but it is the fulfilment rate which is harder."

Which should come as no great surprise. According to the Canadian Federation of Students of Quebec, the average debt for undergraduates in Arts and Sciences once they leave school is $19,000. :

--Gemma Wilson

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