The University announced Thursday that it will use money from private donors and institutional funds to compensate students whose Oregon Opportunity Grant money was cut last week.
According to the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, students receiving the grant will see their financial aid reduced during spring term. The grant money will not change during winter term, University spokesperson Heidi Hiaasen said.
According to an OSAC statement, full-time students will lose $80 from their grants and part-time students will lose $40. Elizabeth Bickford, head of financial aid for the University, said the change will affect 2,900 students – 1,000 more than received the grant last year at the University.
According to Hiaasen and a University release, $340,000 has been set aside by the University to cover the students. The money comes from private donations to Campaign Oregon, the University’s massive fundraising effort that has raised $822 million to date.
The OSAC announced the grant cuts under pressure from circumstances that Executive Director Dennis Johnson called “a perfect storm.” Johnson said the faltering economy has caused both the state and federal budgets to tighten recently, which affects funding for OSAC aid. In addition, Johnson said OSAC funds come partially from the Oregon State Lottery, whose sales have been down this year.
Johnson said financial pressure from the government has combined with financial pressure on families to create a difficult situation. This year alone, 38,500 students statewide received assistance from the grant, compared to 27,500 last year, he said. The difference was 4,000 more students than OSAC had planned for, he said.
The drastic increase in students is a result of the economic situation in Oregon, Johnson said. In difficult economic times, people often return to school, he said, or they simply find they don’t have enough money for college and need financial aid.
Claire Matese, policy research coordinator for the OSAC, said the cuts to the grant came on the heels of a November announcement from Gov. Ted Kulongoski that called for state-wide reductions in the budget.
“The governor didn’t have any choice,” Johnson said. “He’s got to balance the budget.”
While the University can compensate for the OSAC’s cuts with privately donated money, other schools are likely not as lucky, Johnson said. Other large universities, namely Oregon State University and Western Oregon University, are covering the costs at least in part with private donations, but Linfield College in McMinnville will turn to fundraising, he said.
Community colleges, on the other hand, don’t have the means to raise funds, Johnson said, and are left without the resources to deal with the situation.
Although the price of one textbook is usually about $80 or less, Matese and Bickford agreed the cost could have more significance to a student on financial aid. The maximum award under the grant at a four-year university is $3,200, and many students receive awards as small as $400, Matese said. Out of a $400 award, $80 is significant, she said.
Bickford added that $80 can mean a lot to a needy student balancing work and loans. She said the University administrators felt the institution needed to step up so the financial aid cuts wouldn’t be a burden on these students.
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