The Oregon State Board of Higher Education recently approved incentive funding of $6.3 million over the 2011-13 biennium for all Oregon University System institutions, a share of which will be given to the University to reward increasing degree attainment rates among Oregonians.@@checked@@ @@I need actual links, blast it@@ @@http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/state_board/meeting/dockets/ddoc111104-FA.pdf@@

The funds will be allocated based on a performance-funding model that supports Oregon’s 40-40-20 educational attainment goals, the first part of which aims to have 40 percent of Oregonians with a bachelor’s degree or higher by 2020. The apportionment of the funds will be based on one-half of the total number of degrees (graduate and undergraduate) each institution awarded to Oregonians in 2010-2011, and on one-half of the number of degrees awarded to underrepresented minority and rural Oregonians in 2010-11.
“We want to make certain that every Oregonian has the opportunity to obtain a degree,” Vice Chancellor Sona Andrews said@@http://www.ous.edu/about/andrewsbio@@. “Students will benefit because it provides more resources to the University.”
The funds will hopefully help increase the rates of Oregonian student undergraduate and graduate degrees, especially those earned by URM and rural students.@@how?@@ @@Um… by giving people who can’t afford college some aid?@@

The number of resident University students who received a degree last year was 3,236; the number of resident URM and rural university students who received a degree was 480. This makes a total of 3,716 which translates to $638,391 in extra funds for the University this academic year, a total of $1,276,782 over the 2011-13 biennium.@@need to check@@ @@Let’s use Google to find facts, people@@ @@http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/state_board/meeting/dockets/ddoc111104-FA.pdf@@

“At present there is a disparity in degree attainment for minority and rural students compared to the current majority population,” Andrews said. “We need to make sure that we eliminate that gap.”
There is an expectation that these funds will be allocated on an annual basis for degrees awarded. However, the criteria will be refined over time to be consistent with the targets and compact for 40‐40‐20 goals. These proposed allocations have been shared and endorsed by the university presidents and provosts in the OUS.
“Incentives such as these identify broad priorities and the need to serve Oregonians, and such funds assist each of the OUS institutions in those endeavors,” University Vice President and Provost Lorraine Davis said.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Lorraine+Davis@@
The University plans to funnel these resources into programs for low-income Oregonians in a way that will directly help to increase the degree attainment rate of Oregonians.
“The incentive funds for the UO will primarily be used for assisting in our commitment to students in Pathway Oregon,” Davis said. “Recruitment efforts  for this program will also be enhanced as a result.”
Pathway Oregon is a University program that “ensures that academically qualified, lower–income Oregonians will have their University of Oregon tuition and fees paid with a combination of federal, state, and university funds,” according to its mission.@@http://www.isupportuoregon.org/?e=fund.detail&fund_id=282&fund_type_id_list=1&keywords=scholarship&index=4@@
The University administration said that although these OUS funds are important, the support for state institutions continues to decline, so the funding barely scratches the surface of monetary issues. All the same, the University does plan to use what has been given to them by OUS to help Oregonians attain a degree.