Photo by Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images.

Lauren Brigman had a lot to celebrate last Tuesday. As station manager for 90.5 WASU-FM, the student-run radio station for Appalachian State University, the station was not only participating in the first ever College Radio Day, they were celebrating 40 years of operation and the prospect of a new broadcasting complex that will open within the next year.

“College radio stations are the learning laboratories for students,” Brigman said. “We’re learning every single day.”

WASU was one of 350 college radio stations that came together last week for the inaugural College Radio Day. And although many colleges are dealing with cuts in funding, the day was not so much a rallying cry for college radio as a celebration college radio’s successes, said Fritz Kass, chief operating officer of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS).

IBS, an organization of more than 1,000 college radio stations, was approached by Rob Quicke, general manager of the student-run station at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J, about sponsoring the event.

In the last several years, Kass said the number of college radio stations coming online and getting FCC license has increased more than ever before.

“It’s really tough to get a job today. You can’t just graduate and walk into a wonderful job. You need a lot of skill sets,” Kass said. “What better way than a college radio station?”

Kass said there are currently about 1,500 college radio stations around the country and about 50 different colleges that contact the IBS weekly who are interested in started a new radio station. From those who express initial interest, about one new station forms a week, Kass said.

College radio stations are the learning laboratories for students. We’re learning every single day.

But among that growth spurt, some colleges have eliminated their student stations. In the past several years, college stations at Augustana College in South Dakota and Texas Tech University have abandoned the airwaves that once belonged to the students, according to USA Today.

But Kass said the small number of stations closing have little impact on the overall popularity of college radio.

“It’s insignificant, it’s two or three (stations) a year,” Kass said. “What you see going on for the last two to three years – these stations were irrelevant to student populations.”

Rice University in Houston, Texas, which sold its KTRU-FM tower, license and bandwidth last spring, made the decision after a university survey found the station had not managed to remain relevant to students, Kass said.

For Lauren “LT” Taylor, the station manager of KTSW-FM 89.9 at nearby Texas State University, Rice’s departure from the airwaves was a wake up call to make sure KTSW broadcast wasn’t falling on indifferent ears.

“(Rice was) a really good radio station,” Taylor said. “Once they got cut, it was obvious that we needed to up our game.”

In the last year, KTSW has begun playing more local bands and covering city council meetings and high school football games.

Taylor said that while her university has supported the station, there is still pressure knowing the university has a right to cut funding that is necessary to the station, despite their attempts to be self-sufficient.

“In a sense, it’s always been an issue,” Taylor said. “But I think once we heard about Rice … it became a little more prominent.”

On College Radio Day, KTSW celebrated with live DJs from 8 a.m. to midnight, including two studio performances from local artists. They interviewed station alums talking about how their experience at a college radio station helped them in the professional world and chatted with local bands that were grateful for the chance to be heard through college radio.

But the big impact of the day came through messages Taylor received via Facebook, “a laundry list of reasons of why they were listening to us.”

“At the end of the day we felt so proud of ourselves,” Taylor said. “It was the one day you realized that you were making a difference.”

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