Colorado’s unemployment rate is seemingly in a holding pattern. In June it was at eight percent, only slightly down from where it was a year ago (via The Associated Press).

If you’re among the unemployed lucky enough to qualify for government benefits, you might be thanking the U.S. Senate for advancing a bill to make payments for unemployment retroactive when a federal extension expired last month.

You might even be considering going back to school to train for a more recession-proof career, in which case you might turn to Colorado State University, one of the few esteemed institutions of higher ed that has seen an increase in donations, according to The Denver Post.

Or you just might skip school altogether. Across the nation, fewer people consider college a good investment—just 67 percent say they do today, down 22 percentage points from one year ago, notes the Denver Business Journal.

In the Denver area, more than 40 percent of residents surveyed say they had to borrow money to pay for college, and of that number, 52 percent indicate that school loans have impacted other important decisions in their lives, such as buying a home or getting married. In another shift, more parents are saving for retirement instead of their children’s educations.

“You can always borrow to pay for college, but you can’t borrow for retirement,” points out Keith Brannan, a vice president at Country Financial.