Login • Register • Forgotten Password

 

• OSA
• OSCC
• OSERA
• NWSLC
• Oregon Student Action Center

Oregon Student Association

Founded in 1975, OSA is a coalition of student governments dedicated to the representation, service, and protection of the collective interests of over 100,000 students in postsecondary education.

• Home
• About Us
  • About OSA
  • OSA Board
  • Staff
  • Employment & Internship Opportunities
• Victories!
  • Recent Accomplishments
  • Highlighted Past Accomplishments
• Events and Conferences
  • Events Calendar
  • Conferences
• Photo Gallery
• Links
  • OSA Schools
  • Government Agencies & Officials
  • Organizations
  • Informational Websites
  • Reports
  • Media
• Publications
  • OSA Outlook
  • Internet Digest
  • Educational Injustice Fact
  • Sign me up!
• Press Room

Recent Accomplishments

Student Vote 2004
OSA formed the non-partisan Student Vote Coalition to register and turnout students in the 2004 presidential election.  In 2004, the Student Vote Coalition registered 33,617 students at universities and community colleges, breaking the previous record set in 2000 and leading people to call 2004 “the year of the student voter.”  OSA provided student-specific non-partisan voter education materials and get-out-the-vote lists to campuses so that students could effectively educate and turnout students.  Staff worked closely with students to plan and execute their vote campaigns.  The 2004 Student Vote Campaign led to many of the students’ victories in the 2005 legislative session.  One such victory was students’ defeat, for the third legislative session in a row, of legislation that would have limited students’ ability to vote by pushing back the registration deadline, not allowing unofficial ballot boxes on-campus, and prohibiting effective voter registration drives on campuses.

The Oregon Opportunity Grant
Students and staff worked with legislators and the Governor to win a historical victory for the Oregon Opportunity Grant (Oregon’s only need-based aid program), where we were able to increase funding by 34 million—a 76 percent budget increase.  For the first time since 1999, all eligible students at public universities and community colleges will receive a Grant.  Additionally, part-time students will now be eligible for the first time in history to receive a Grant beginning in 2006-07.  To win this victory, staff worked closely with allies in the legislature and students testified, made phone calls, wrote letters, and created a picture yearbook for legislators that highlighted students’ stories from campuses.

Tuition Mitigation
When the Governor proposed tuition increases of 12 percent for public universities over 2005-07 at the beginning of 2005, OSA worked with legislators and OUS to convince the legislature to invest in access to post-secondary education by funding tuition mitigation.  OSA was the sole organization working to convince the legislature to buy down tuition increases.  OSA emerged from the session successful in this goal, as the legislature had voted to buy down the proposed 12 percent tuition increase to 6 percent by allocating an additional $17.25 million to OUS.  The tuition increases over the biennium for a 15-credit student at each of the institutions are as follows: EOU- 3%, OIT - 7%, OSU - 2%, PSU- 3%, SOU - 3%, UO - 2%, WOU - 6%. 

Community Colleges
OSA worked closely with Oregon community colleges to increase funding for Lane Community College and the other 16 community colleges in the state.  The Community College and Workforce Development budget received $428 million—far above the Governor’s recommended $388 for the Community College Support Fund.  While the increased investment did not provide tuition freezes for community college students, it did provide tuition mitigation, allowing students relief from the skyrocketing tuition of previous years.

Oregon Health & Sciences University Funding
When the Governor proposed a cut to OHSU that would have resulted in severe budget cuts and would have forced in-state tuition to increase to the level of out-of-state tuition, OSA worked with students to organize lobby days, letter writing, and call-ins that increased the final allocation by $20 million.  The increase of $20 million saved students thousands of dollars and salvaged programs slated for reductions.

Student Child Care Program
Despite the Department of Human Services’ proposal to eliminate the Student Child Care Program, OSA was able to secure $1 million for the Program to serve 230 families each year of the biennium. 

Oregon Student Foundation