Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 81 (SB 81), the Oregon
Promise tuition waiver program, on Friday, July 17, opening the door for
Oregonians to pursue higher education while lessening the burden of tuition.

The program, available to Oregon residents of at least 12 months, will waive
tuition for certain community college courses if certain criteria are met.

“SB 81 creates an affordable pathway to the middle class,” said District 52
Representative Mark Johnson (R-Hood River), in an email to The Mountain
Times. “Removing the barrier of tuition will allow more Oregonians to become
self-sustaining by giving them post-secondary training needed to enter the
workforce.”

Under the program, tuition waivers will be available to Oregonians who are
enrolled in a degree or certificate program, are a recent graduate from a
diploma or General Educational Development program, meet a minimum
grade point average, show continued academic progress, and accept all
available federal and state aid. Students will also be responsible for
contributing $50 and need to apply for and accept certain other available
sources of financial aid before becoming eligible for waived tuition.

The program, administered by the Office of Student Access and Completion of
the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), is capped to $10
million per fiscal year. HECC will set the prioritization if funding is not
available to all eligible students.

Mountain resident Tony DeMicoli, whose daughter will be a freshman at Sandy
High this fall, sees the program as offering a good option for students to get
valuable education without entering the workforce or pursuing higher degrees,
such as in law or medicine, with student loan bills.

He also noted that his daughter has high expectations for her future and this
program could offer another avenue to chasing her dreams.

“I’m hoping when she’s ready for college, I can afford the college of her
choice,” DeMicoli said.

“It’s good to know that community college is there for her.”

Fellow Mountain resident Kevin Frank has two children attending SHS,
including a college bound senior.

He sees it as a valuable program, but noted he doesn’t know if it might impact
people’s taxes.

“In theory it sounds like a great way to go ... as long as the benefits outweigh
the cost and expense to the community as a whole,” Frank said. “The cost of
college has become a pretty insurmountable sum of money for somebody
getting started.”

Becky Fortune, a Mountain resident who has spent 15 years working in the
Oregon Trail School District in various capacities, has five children between
the ages of 16 and 24. Between her job and her kids’ friends, she’s seen
numerous graduates not seeing college as an option and resigned to finding a
job after leaving high school.

“For parents it’s hard enough any more to support your family,” Fortune said.
“A lot of parents don’t have the money any more to put away for kids school.
I know too many kids who don’t think about college because money is an
automatic road block.”

Fortune noted that she’s not sure if her own children will take advantage of
the program, as they are pursuing other options, including one currently in a
fire science program and another in the Army and planning to use the GI Bill
for further education.

She sees those programs and others, such as job partnerships for high school
students, as other ways for high school graduates to give themselves a
brighter future.

“Not everybody’s built to go to college,” Fortune said. “But if you’re bright and
you want to go to school, you should be able to go to school.”