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.
Participants praise the program for providing the opportunity to pursue meaningful futures and careers.
“For a long time, I believed I wasn't able or worthy enough to get the chance to pursue higher education. This program changes that,” Bell Cambridge, a recipient of the waiver and member of YEHP's Youth Action Board, told the Oregon Department of Human Services.
“It grants youth who have been disproportionately disadvantaged a genuine chance to break the cycle,” Cambridge continued. “By providing access to stability and opportunity, it represents an investment in my future and a validation that my abilities and potential are not limited by my circumstances.”
Jamaal Abdul-Alim is a longtime education writer who resides in Washington, D.C. He occasionally teaches journalism and has completed fellowships at the University of Michigan, Columbia University and New America.
