Oregon Students of Color Coalition
We are a statewide coalition of students advocating for equal access to education by empowering students and strengthening communities of color.
News
Fix Postsecondary Education Funding First
Businesses and postsecondary education communities take cooperative action to ask that additional state funds go to postsecondary education first
May 3rd: At a press conference in the Capitol today, representatives from Oregon businesses and postsecondary education communities announced our plan for putting colleges and universities back on track by the end of this legislative session. Our message was clear: legislators can’t leave Salem this session without first funding an accessible, affordable, and quality postsecondary education system. Coined “fix this first,” the plan asks legislators to invest unallocated funds and new funds that become available to postsecondary education as the number one priority.
Read our press release here.
Read a fact sheet on the “Fix This First” plan here.
Following the press conference, students held a bake sale in the Capitol in a symbolic attempt to earn extra funds for our starved university and community college systems. Without adequate state support and tuition already sky-high, students didn’t know what other option we had—so we put on our aprons and held a good old fashioned bake sale.
Students also delivered giant piggy banks to legislators full of thousands of postcards signed by students across the state that call on legislators to “bank on students” as an investment in our education will bring exponential returns to the state when we enter the workforce as degree-carrying professionals.
Funding for Postsecondary Education Supported by Newspapers Across State
On April 25th, students handed out copies of all of the opinion pieces that have been published in Oregon newspapers since the beginning of the year in favor of funding for postsecondary education. The document is 142 pages long! View it here.
OSA Releases New Report
On March 27th, OSA released an original research report entitled “Where Are We At and Where Are We Going? A Survey of Students and Campuses in Oregon.” As the state has continued to disinvest in Oregon’s colleges and universities, students have taken on substantial tuition increases and are facing increasing budget cuts on campus. This report is the first to examine the impacts of six years of decreasing state support for postsecondary education on Oregon students and their colleges and universities.
Findings from 30 staff interviews at campuses across the state and over 4,000 student surveys reveal concerning trends for Oregon students and campuses, as well as successes institutions have had despite decreased funding.
“Oregon college students and their campuses are teetering on the edge,” said report author and OSA Executive Director Melissa Unger. “A significant group of students are barely able to pay tuition and receive the services they need to graduate. And campuses have no more edges to trim.”
Click here for a copy of the report.
Click here for the press release.
Contact OSCC
Oregon Students of Color Coalition
635 NE Dekum St.
Portland, OR 97211
Phone: 503-286-0477
Fax: 503-286-0924
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Site last updated on 03/12/2010 at 11:42 AM.
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