University junior Brooke Herbert summed up the general student consensus on consistently low post-secondary education funding from the state: “I think it sucks.”
The Oregon Student Association (OSA) compiled about seven months’ worth of research into a 57-page report entitled “Where Are We At and Where Are We Going? A Survey of Students and Campuses in Oregon.” The report includes data gathered through more than 4,000 student surveys, as well as faculty, staff and administration interviews conducted on all seven Oregon public universities and eight community colleges.
The report’s self-described objective was to show just how badly students are suffering from a decade of state disinvestment in higher education institutions.
Some of the report’s findings are startling.
Courtney Sproule, OSA Communications Director, said the organization is very concerned about the 43 percent of college seniors who were forced to spend more time at school because of an inability to enroll in the classes they needed to graduate. Fewer class offerings at public universities has put students at a disadvantage because they are forced to pay even more tuition.
University junior Cooper Jobling, a political science major, has had more than one such experience. Although he is set to graduate on time, he said it is pretty much do-or-die because overfilled classes forced him to put the required courses on hold.
“It was pretty frustrating,” Jobling said. “When you miss out on one class, that basically throws a wrench in your whole schedule and you have to reorganize everything.”
The OSA reported other problems that could be remedied through the increased state funding that it is pushing so hard for.
Sproule mentioned that 16 percent of students cited a lack of advising as a reason for their extended stay in college.
“That’s more harmful to students than before because tuition is skyrocketing,” she said.
Herbert had an ill experience with a class adviser. She said the general adviser misled her by implying that her major program would be more difficult to get involved in than it actually is, and that she would have to stay at the University longer. The adviser didn’t really seem to know what he was talking about, she said.
Nevertheless, most students who attempt to get an adviser’s help are satisfied with what they receive, Sproule said the report found.
Herbert said the experience was still beneficial overall because the one-on-one attention was helpful. She said the University should offer more individualized attention, such as an advising Web site where there is always someone online to answer questions.
“We’re paying so much that we should be getting a lot more than we are,” said Herbert. “A lot of people feel lost.”
Herbert isn’t the only one saying that.
The Executive Summary of the OSA report reads: “While colleges have substantially increased tuition, they have also cut programs, staff and departments. So students are paying more and getting less of an education.”
Sproule said despite massive debt students take on to get the college education that is essential for a middle-class lifestyle in Oregon today, institutions are unable to provide everything the student needs.
“We’re seeing students entering colleges to get opportunities and those opportunities are often limited by the debt that they had to take on,” Sproule said. “These (budget) cuts haven’t been outside the classroom.”
Student debt is by no means a small concern on campus.
Herbert is only in her second year at the University, but has obtained enough credits to qualify as a junior. The psychology major graduated from Gladstone High with 31 credits, and appreciates that advantage now more than ever because she saved significantly on tuition.
That tuition, according to the OSA report, has an immense impact on students’ ability to attend post-secondary education institutions. Forty-nine percent of university students and 47 percent of community college students reported that costs impacted their decisions regarding their education. Students reported debt as a hindrance to their ability to further their degree or take additional courses, and said that it is increasingly difficult to afford a degree plus living expenses.
In part as a direct result of skyrocketing tuition and fewer programs, enrollment at community colleges has plummeted, while leveling off at universities, according to the report.
Perhaps most telling, “a significant minority of students reported that substantial cost increases would force them to drastically change their education plans, by attending a lower cost institution, going part-time or dropping out altogether.” The report also states that considering this finding, it can be assumed that many students were forced to do one of the above in the 2001-05 academic years.
Ultimately, the fate of the more than 100,000 students in Oregon post-secondary education rests with the State Legislature.
“Schools have done the best they can with what they’ve been given,” said Sproule. “We know that we have to reinvest in post-secondary education this session.”
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