Beginning in fall 2005, no Oregon National Guard and Reserve veteran who has served in a combat zone since Sept. 11, 2001, will pay tuition at Oregon state universities.
The Oregon University System will enact the Voyager Tuition Assistance program in an effort to ease returning guardsmen's transition back to civilian life by providing free access to an undergraduate education.
"Sept. 11 sort of changed the whole universe in terms of numbers being deployed to areas of combat," said OUS Director of Communications Di Saunders. Since then, 4,870 members of the Oregon National Guard and Reserves have been deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. The program is intended to be a gesture of appreciation for the sacrifices soldiers from Oregon have made - particularly guardsmen, who, Saunders said, receive fewer benefits than soldiers in the Marines or the Army. The Oregon guardsmen have suffered 31 casualties since Sept. 11.
The push to develop a statewide fee-remission program came from the Oregon legislature as well as the office of Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski, a former Marine who used the benefits provided by the federal GI Bill to pay for college. Tuition assistance programs were already in place at Eastern Oregon University and the Oregon Institute of Technology - lawmakers have simply expanded the program's scope to include all seven OUS universities.
Led in part by OUS Director of Enrollment Services David McDonald, the program was developed jointly by OUS financial aid directors, members of the OUS Student Affairs Council and the Chancellor's Office.
Voyager Tuition Assistance picks up where Federal GI Bill benefits, usually amounting to $4,500, end. Based on this year's enrollment of returning guardsmen, approximately 300 undergraduates are expected to take advantage of the program in Fall 2005 and OUS universities are estimated to absorb about $250,000 of tuition, according to OUS calculations.
Though Oregon's recent budget problems make the program more difficult to implement, McDonald said, it is "such a priority that we would find a way to make this work." Funding for the program will not take away from the money allotted to students already receiving financial aid, according to Saunders.
The program is not part of an effort to bolster recruitment, according to both McDonald and Saunders. Federal benefits provided by the GI Bill take care of the bulk of an OUS tuition, which ranges from $4,300 to $5,600 a year. Voyager Tuition Assistance is "just a topping off (of financial assistance) so that there's no barrier to these soldiers getting readjusted," Saunders said.
Not many other states have such fee-reduction programs, McDonald said, adding that in many states, benefits from the GI Bill may be sufficient to cover the cost of public universities. Because OUS schools recently had to raise their tuition and fees, Oregon lawmakers "think (the program) is the right thing to do," McDonald said.
To be eligible for the Voyager program, according to an OUS fact sheet, applicants must be Oregon residents, be degree-seeking undergraduate students, complete a FAFSA and maintain satisfactory academic progress. Demonstrated financial need is not a requirement.
McDonald said tuition assistance is just part of a statewide push to "do more to recognize and support guardsmen." Other benefits recently granted to returning guardsmen include free access to state parks and free hunting and fishing licenses.
