Since the program – formally known as the Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program, or YEHP – was created by law in 2022, it has benefitted nearly 400 students, program manager Matt Rasmussen told OregonLive.
“It’s so important to give young people that feeling of hope, involvement, connection and being able to see a future for themselves,” Rasmussen told the news site. He added that the tuition waiver “really changes a lot of young people’s trajectories and hopes and desires.”
Oregon is one of only a few states that offer tuition waivers to students who’ve experienced homelessness, according to the Youth Homelessness Index, a database maintained by the National Homelessness Law Center. The database shows Florida and Maryland also offer such waivers, and California and Maine offer waivers to unhoused students in certain circumstances. California also offers emergency housing for students on the verge of homelessness.
As The EDU Ledger reported in “The Hidden Crisis,” 8% of undergraduate and 5% of graduate students – more than 1.5 million students – are experiencing homelessness. And roughly half of all college students are experiencing housing insecurity.
Oregon’s tuition waiver program for unhoused students is available to students under the age of 25 who attend public universities or community colleges and who’ve experienced homelessness for six months or more. They must also have received services from a Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program partner when they were 16 or older.
The waiver applies to whatever tuition and fees aren’t covered by federal or state financial aid.
