Some University students who use state grants to pay for school would be forced to drop out if Gov. John Kitzhaber’s initial proposal to accommodate an expected state budget shortfall is implemented, an education lobbyist said.
Under the plan, 5,762 low-income students who receive Oregon Opportunity Grants would lose grant funds completely. About 30,000 such grants are awarded statewide each year.
“It would make vulnerable students more vulnerable,” said John Wykoff, a lobbyist for the Oregon Student Association. “You’re just going to have students kicked out of the system.”
About 1,800 students attending the University this year depend on Oregon Opportunity Grants, or “need grants.” The grants allot $1,254 to each student, each year, and help pay for books, tuition and rent.
Gene Evans, a spokesman for the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, which awards grants and scholarships to students at private colleges and public universities, said the impact of Kitzhaber’s latest proposal could change many lives.
Evans said Kitzhaber is considering other solutions to sidestep the budget crunch because too many programs stand to lose too much.
Oregon higher education lobbyists and financial aid officials said they expect a different final blueprint to remedy the state’s projected $830 million shortfall. Kitzhaber’s initial proposal, announced Jan. 7, was formulated as a starting point for legislators to decide how to raise the sum.
Kitzhaber asked state agencies in October to detail how they would trim budgets in 2 percent increments up to 10 percent to blunt the shortfall’s blow.
He said he does not favor the Jan. 7 proposal because, among other reductions, it would mean trimming about $300 million from the $5.2 billion earmarked for school support during 2001-03.
“Cuts mean the difference between going to school and not going to school for some of these students,” Evans said. “And these are the students that need aid the most.”
Students at the University who need opportunity grants are far outnumbered by those who receive loans or other grants, such as Pell grants, said James Gilmour, associate director for the student financial aid office. He said because the cost of school is rising while funding awarded through grants remains fixed, many students are depending more on loans.
But this is bad news for low-income students, Gilmour said, because they’re taking a higher risk when shouldering loans that must be paid back.
“The first couple of years, these students would be saddled with debt and they would have no degree to show for it,” Gilmour said. “This has a chilling effect when these grants aren’t available.”
E-mail higher education reporter Eric Martin at [email protected].