College students will gather at the state Capitol this morning for a rally to protest plans to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from the state’s higher education budget, a move that could mean tuition hikes as high as 30 percent for some community colleges and the University of Colorado, 7News reports.

According to The Pueblo Chieftain, the proposed $452 million spending reduction has one member of the state board that oversees higher education–the Colorado Commission on Higher Education–worried that “this is a tragedy” that will put a degree out of reach for many students.

Lawmakers have proposed to take funds from Pinnacle Assurance, a “quasi-governmental entity that provides worker’s compensation in Colorado,” but it is unclear whether that plan will come to fruition. Perhaps the efforts of four University of Colorado student leaders, who traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with lawmakers, will help (via Boulder’s Daily Camera).

Meanwhile, Colorado’s public schools are struggling amid cuts too, and, in a new trend, several urban districts are studying the savings associated with switching to a four-day school week, according to The Denver Post.