April 11, 2005 Update about the Oregon Opportunity Grant

The April 11 Oregonian reported that House and Senate leaders have agreed on a plan to provide less direct aid than the governor is asking for to low-income college students in order to freeze tuition for all. The plan calls for reducing the Governor’s budget request for the Oregon Opportunity Grant by $24 million and funding additional direct dollars to the seven public universities in the state in exchange for tuition freezes for all students for the next two years.

It is still important to contact legislators about the Oregon Opportunity Grant and the importance of funding need based aid to the lowest income college attendees. No final decisions have been made about the final outcome of the Oregon Opportunity Grant.

Update about the Federal Perkins Loan and Upward Bound

In late March, the House and Senate passed budget resolutions that differ widely, and resolving the differences and producing a compromise budget may prove difficult. The Senate version included an amendment from Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) that included $5.4 billion in additional spending for education, including funding Upward Bound and the Federal Perkins Loan.

Since both the House and Senate have passed their FY2006 Budget Resolutions, they must now appoint a Conference Committee to work through the differences in the respective resolutions.

To read more, go to the article on the national financial aid website at:

http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2005/gfy06budgerresolution032105.html