Not sure if anyone will read this but still..

I[20M] was talking to my crush[~20F] the other day and she seems pretty depressed. She told me that she doesn't feel like doing much these days, including her hobbies, and just tries to keep working on her project. I believe some of her problems may stem from her financial situation, her parents have refused to support her for a future masters degree (parents normally financially support their children's education in our country). Also, our college gives us an enormous workload and it's pretty easy to fall into depression if someone is trying to excel in academics as there's is very little time left for ourselves and our hobbies. We both do pretty well in academics so that could also be one of the reasons she maybe in this spot (I was also pretty depressed recently until the winter vacation).

We have become pretty close lately and even though we haven't said it out loud I feel we both know we like each other. I even decided to tell her this but now the problem is, if she doesn't like me then she would lose a close friend (I don't think we will be as close as we are now if she rejects me, there always be some awkwardness) and that would make things worse for her mentally ig, depression and losing a close friend. But if she does like me, it may cheer her up a bit.

I am not sure whether I should tell her about my feelings, it's a risk. Further, I also don't know what else I could do here. Ps. We are both sort of introverts if that helps and I don't think she will agree to any proposals of mine to help her financially.

I would be grateful if someone mature can advise me here. Thanks for reading.