President Dave Frohmayer announced today the details of PathwayOregon, which promises Oregon-resident, incoming freshman who qualify for the Pell Grant a free ride to the University of Oregon.

“At a time of fluctuating state support, escalating tuition and increased student debt, we are committed to providing more Oregonians than ever the financial boost they need to study at the state’s flagship university,” Frohnmayer said. “I am proud to present PathwayOregon as a cornerstone of that effort.”

According to the program’s website:

Resources for PathwayOregon come from federal, state, and university programs, including funds provided through private donations.

Last year, 3,680 UO students received the Pell Grant, according to this November R-G article, but I can’t find how many recipients of the federal grant are Oregon residents.

This program is all glitter and gleam for families whose children qualify for the grant. Everyone else, however, may be getting screwed. This study put out early 2007 by two UO economics professors (here’s a University press release on it) says the funds dished out for Pell Grants may simply be appropriated through tuition hikes.

In the end, exogenous changes in the Federal Pell Grant program are found to correlate strongly with changes in the distribution of needy students and revenues across institution quality.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 19:22 by Ossie and is filed under Campus, Education, Oregon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.