With rising college costs, students fear higher ed out of reach

SALEM, Ore. - The cost of college continues to climb and, according to the Oregon Student Association, community colleges have raised tuition rates 15 percent in the last five years. And students at Oregon’s seven state universities are paying 75 percent more than their peers paid eight years ago.

The average cost of tuition and fees for Oregon students is more than $7,600. Add in other expenses such as housing, food and books, and the cost to attend a state university is more than $20,000 a year.

At the same time, the state is spending less on higher education than it did in 1999, and students say their dreams of obtaining a diploma are increasingly in jeopardy.

The increased costs and less spending on education were why college students walked the halls of the Capitol Tuesday to lobby lawmakers to keep costs down and to increase financial aid options.

"I'm literally on the verge of having to move back to Portland just to save up money, and if I can afford it, attend community college," said Omid Alipoor, who is a junior at the University of Oregon. “So, whether I’m going to be attending college is kind of up in the air right now."

As students protest the rising cost of tuition, Oregon's seven state universities are holding onto more than $192 million in cash reserves. Part of that was created by record enrollment numbers. Portland State, Oregon State, and the University of Oregon each have more than $50 million in reserves.

Some students and parents question why that money isn't being used to keep tuition costs down.

When asked if the money could be used to lower tuition, George Pernsteiner, chancellor of the Oregon University System, said, "No, what it is is an opportunity – these are monies that students, primarily students and their families have invested with us that we will be using in the upcoming years in order to make sure that they're educated."

He said the OUS needs to maintain a cash balance to pay bills, hire faculty and staff.

Could the system tap into the money if it wanted to?

"Some of that money will be used by the campuses in order to ensure the tuition is held to lower level in next fall," Pernsteiner said.

He said it's up to each school to decide whether to use its reserve money to help offset tuition costs for students. So the reserve funds could factor into tuition decisions that are made this summer for the next school year.

Another factor is that the OUS receives less in state funding right now than it did 12 years ago.