The front entrance of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon. (Maddie Stellingwerf/Emerald)

The GOP introduced a fiscal budget that also goes after access to reproductive healthcare and higher education institutions, with significant cuts to both. These cuts would have noticeable impacts on college life at the University of Oregon and student services

The proposed budget impacts the one in eight Americans who are financing college through student loans. The slashes to the Department of Education would eliminate subsidized loans for undergraduates, cut TRIO programs and reduce the federal work study budget by almost $1 billion. 

The Trump Administration stated there has been too much funding allocated for “niche non-governmental organizations” and “institutions of higher education” that have been “committed to radical gender and climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life.” 

In a 2023 study done on college students, three in four respondents said they valued access to reproductive health services in choosing colleges. Planned Parenthood provides critical resources to keep everyone within the community safe and healthy, with services ranging from STI screenings, access to contraceptives and abortion care. 

The proposed budget essentially had the goal of defunding Planned Parenthood. Currently, 70% of those who go to Planned Parenthood rely on some form of Medicaid to pay for healthcare. 

Planned Parenthood 

Although Eugene and Springfield have relatively good access to healthcare, there are parts of Lane County that are more rural and will feel these impacts more acutely. 

Amy Handler, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon, says rural hospitals that depend on Medicaid will struggle more financially. Many of these hospitals can’t sustain these cuts to Medicaid and keep up with the operating costs. 

However, with the large sweeping cuts to Medicaid, many places across the country are preparing for changes within the healthcare ecosystem, including changes to regular access to reproductive healthcare. 

“A couple months (after these changes), we see rising STI rates and unintended pregnancies. We see folks that are sicker or need more acute care than they would have if they have been able to access the preventative services that they wanted,” Handler said.

PPSO has worked on providing healthcare for free thanks to donor support, and they are now collaborating with the state to build longer-term funding solutions to keep healthcare affordable.

“We’re going to hold two things at once –– (that) we don’t have clarity in what it will look like right now, and that Oregon has never shielded away from being the most protective state in the country for reproductive rights,” Handler said. “There’s a lot of chaos at the federal level, and even with that happening we have kept our doors open, and we are ready to make sure that you have all of the reproductive healthcare services you need and want.” 

Higher Education

Currently, Oregon has more than 12,000 students who are being served by 55 TRIO programs, a federal education program to help low-income and disadvantaged students afford higher education. 

The University of Oregon supported 27 McNair scholars and 360 scholars associated with student support services. The University of Oregon also recorded 595 students relying on the federal work study program.

In total,the University of Oregon receives $5.2 million in federal funding, and the federal government has targeted $3.4 million in grant terminations. 

“It’s really worrisome, especially coming out of the budget cut season of the summer,” ASUO President Prissila Moreno said. “We’ve already seen areas in which students could possibly still afford to go to this university –– like student worker positions –– being cut.”

Moreno mentioned how the university has already stated that there will be fewer graduate student positions going forward, and the limited scholarship funding will have an impact on the international student population.

The Oregon legislature hasn’t historically prioritized higher education funding, so making up for lost revenue through state funding won’t be feasible. 

“It is really scary and definitely something that ASUO, at least on the basic needs side, can really push to make sure students aren’t completely isolated,” Moreno said on the topic of college affordability. “I think that it’s clear that the Trump administration is attacking higher education for a reason, and I think our state needs to step up in this area.”