The Oregon Need Grant, a program that administers funds to Oregon resident undergraduate students who are in need of financial aid, cannot give its gifts to everyone.
“Every year, it gets drastically underfunded, and the need’s obviously there,” said Joe Schaeffer, interim field organizer for the Oregon Student Association.
The grant is distributed by the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, but with the money currently in the fund, only 82 percent of students who are eligible for aid actually get it.
Some don’t think 82 percent is enough; OSAC and the OSA asked the state Legislature’s Emergency Board last month that an additional $670,000 be released for the program so that more students may be covered.
Funds for the Oregon Need Grant are set aside while determining the budget in the Oregon legislative sessions every other year. During the off years, the state legislature’s Emergency Board meets to divvy out funds to groups or programs that may need more money than the budget provided.
With the extra $670,000, the OSAC was hoping that 2,000 more students could receive financial assistance.
To help further the cause, the OSA arranged a letter-writing campaign to the Emergency Board, asking that it provide the necessary funds. In total, about 2,000 letters were sent to the board. The ASUO organized its own effort in conjunction with that of the OSA and contributed roughly 500 of those letters.
Despite having been asked for $670,000, the Emergency Board released only $260,000 for the grant. John Wykoff, communications director with the OSA, said that because enrollment in Oregon colleges and universities has been increasing, this amount was just enough to push coverage up to the set goal of 82 percent of students.
“We were hoping to exceed that a little in the interim, but we didn’t,” Wykoff said.
At its inception in 1971, the program was intended to cover a much higher percentage of a student’s cost of education than it does now, OSAC spokesman Gene Evans said. The program was set up to cover no more than 50 percent of the expenses, but over time the percentage has continued to decrease, and right now coverage is about 11 or 12 percent.
The real issue that proponents for increased educational funding are pushing, however, is not how much is covered, but how many students receive aid. Out of 76,180 students in Oregon who meet the requirements for the Need Grant, 13,593 come out with nothing from the fund.
“There are people who qualify, but who aren’t able to get it,” ASUO State Affairs coordinator Arlie Adkins said.
Whether a student comes out with money from the Need Grant is based on when he or she applies for financial aid with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Generally, students are encouraged to apply for the FAFSA at the beginning of the year.
“It is a first come, first serve basis,” Wykoff said. “If you apply too late, you’re out of luck … You might be eligible, but you won’t get a grant.”
The Emergency Board is not the only group that provides money for the Need Grant; money comes from the federal government and the Oregon Education Endowment, as well.
Even though the Emergency Board has distributed what it will for this year, that does not mean the fight for more money is over. OSAC and OSA will continue to ask the Legislature to provide enough funds to help all low-income students in the state.
The Oregon Need Grant is an issue at every legislative session, Adkins said.
OSA plans to work with potential legislators during the summer, Wykoff said, educating them about both the Oregon Need Grant and other related issues, such as child-care support for students.
OSAC plans to ask the Legislature in January for a “more full funding of the program,” Evans said, so that coverage can reach 15 percent of the education cost for students. It also is looking into making money available year-round so that if students decide after the priority date that they are going to attend school, they will still be able to get grant funds.
The issue’s importance reaches beyond student groups. The office of Oregon University System Chancellor Joe Cox is in favor of placing more funds into the Oregon Need Grant, OUS spokesman Philip Bransford said.
Bransford said that as Oregon’s economy moves from one centered on natural resources to one that relies on highly trained workers, the state needs to make sure students are being given the opportunity to be educated so the state can keep up.
“If Oregon is going to maintain its competitiveness and economic health … [it’s] going to have to provide access to higher education,” he said.