Oregon Tribal Student Grant program seeks to improve access to higher education

A brand new grant program goals to assist members of the Oregon’s 9 federally acknowledged Native American tribes with the price of attending school subsequent tutorial 12 months.

The Oregon Tribal Pupil Grant program will cowl attendance prices, past what federal and state monetary assist cowl, at eligible schools or universities within the state. College students can use the cash for tuition, they usually can even apply it to different bills like housing, books and transportation.

The Oregon Legislature accepted this system for one 12 months. Already, greater than 500 folks have began purposes, in line with the state’s Larger Schooling Coordinating Fee. State officers encourage college students to use for the grant by Aug. 1, which is the “precedence deadline.”

Tribal representatives together with Sandy Henry, the schooling director for the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians, have been concerned within the rule-making course of for the grant program. She instructed OPB’s “Assume Out Loud” that the tribal pupil grants will go a good distance towards breaking down a few of the obstacles that hold Native American college students from accessing increased schooling.

“We have to keep in mind that lots of these people, these Native American college students, are first-generation school college students. And so there may be some socioeconomic components that create some obstacles to even beginning the method,” she stated. “Having the ability to discuss with our college students — returning or first-time college students — and saying, ‘I’ve bought this nice program that’s gonna take lots of stress off you and your loved ones and it’s going to will let you focus totally on having a profitable tutorial 12 months,’ that’s an enormous reward to provide our college students proper off the bat.”

The grant program may permit college students to go to highschool full time and concentrate on their schooling after they would in any other case maintain down a job whereas going to highschool, Henry stated.

Ben Cannon, govt director for Oregon’s Larger Schooling Coordinating Fee, stated he’ll be pushing laborious for state lawmakers to fund this system past the approaching college 12 months.

“This funding on the a part of the state of Oregon for 2022-23 in our tribal college students is outstanding, and the governor and Legislature deserve nice credit score for what they’ve performed to put aside $19 million {dollars} for the upcoming 12 months,” he stated. “We now have to maintain this program for college students who’re, I believe, receiving an implied dedication on the a part of the state, and the state mustn’t break that promise to these college students.”

Henry stated she is hopeful in regards to the continuation of this system and the long-term impacts it may have.

“Tribal people suppose by way of generations. What sort of impression are we making that’s going to have an effect on folks seven generations down the street? I’m hoping that is that form of program,” she stated.