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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.

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Internet Digest

March 5, 2007

This Valentine's Day, College Students Loved Access to Higher Education: Tuition equity bill introduced

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Oregon college students delivered Valentines to over 50 legislators to tell them that what they love is access to a higher education for all Oregonians. The Valentines proclaimed students’ love for the tuition equity bill, HB 2705, which was introduced the following day (February 15) in the Oregon legislature. 

“At a time when having an educated citizenry is more important than ever to our state,” said Oregon Students of Color Coalition Board member and ASPSU Multicultural Affairs Director Kamar Haji-Mohamed, “tuition equity legislation will bring us closer to ensuring that all Oregonians have access to a college degree.”

Tuition equity legislation would allow all qualified Oregon high school graduates access to in-state rates at Oregon universities if they have attended an Oregon high school for three years or more.  Currently many of Oregon’s undocumented high schoolers are priced out of a higher education as their residency status requires them to pay out-of-state rates.  With out-of-state tuition rates at up to three times the cost of in-state rates, most undocumented children simply cannot afford to go to school.

In an interview, OSCC Board member and WOU student Key Jackson spoke about how this issue affected her and her classmates at Woodburn High School:

What does tuition equity mean to you?
Equality.  It means that hard working, dedicated students would have the opportunity to continue their education.

Did you have friends or classmates that were affected by this issue?  How is your life different from theirs?
I had classmates that are currently affected by the lack of equality in our higher education system.  Students who graduated with better GPA’s than I did and who were much more involved in extra curricular activities—students who would have thrived in a collegiate atmosphere—are having to make do with jobs in town.  Some of them are going to community colleges, dedicated to continuing their education even though they are being discounted from public universities.  My life is different in that I was able to go to the school of my choice, I was able to pick a university that fits my needs as a student.  I will enter the job world after graduation with a bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately not all of my peers have had that same opportunity.

How would the enactment of tuition equity affect your college experience?
I know that my classroom experience would be enriched by the smart, dedicated students that this issue affects—students who overcame great barriers just to graduate from high school.  And it would help to diversify our campus, which is essential to the campus experience of all students.  Knowing that all students are getting an equal opportunity at higher education would help me to believe in the integrity of our university system.

Why should Oregonians get behind this legislation?
Because as a people it’s imperative that everyone have equal access to higher education.  Throughout history we’ve seen the devastating effects of discrimination.  Not only would this piece of legislation contribute to Oregon’s economy, it would also enrich our society.  As more jobs than ever require a college degree and as our state becomes increasingly diverse, now is the time to stop abandoning our students as they come to the threshold of academic success, now is the time to stop sitting back and watching as potential is encouraged for one group of people but denied for the next, now is the
time for equal access.  Here is an opportunity for Oregonians to take a stand and support all students, and now is the time to act.




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The bill, HB 2705, was introduced by the Oregon Students of Color Coalition (OSCC) and its chief sponsor is Representative Ben Cannon.  A broad-based coalition has formed in support of tuition equity, including OSCC, Latinos Unidos Siempre, American Friends Service Committee, CAUSA, Central Oregon Jobs with Justice, Ecumenical Ministries, Farmworker Housing Development Corporation, and the Urban League of Portland.

10 other states, including Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, have enacted tuition equity legislation as early as 2001.  In the years that they’ve functioned under tuition equity, research suggests that these states have seen increases in the percentage of high school graduates who pursue a college degree and
additional revenue inflow to their universities from students who would have otherwise not gone to college*. Oregon remains the only state on the west coast that has not yet enacted tuition equity legislation.

For more information on tuition equity, see our fact sheet and this recent story from the Oregon Daily Emerald. 

* National Immigration Law Center

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