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In 2024-25, OSAC awarded $12 million in scholarships through more than 600 privately funded scholarships. By completing the OSAC scholarship application, current and future students may apply for multiple scholarships in one application! Read our recent press release about the opening of the scholarship application here.

The OSAC Scholarship application opened on November 1, 2024. Students who submit their scholarship application by the Early Bird deadline of February 18, 2025 will have the chance to win a $1,000 scholarship. The final scholarship deadline is March 3,2025. 

OSAC has several new scholarships for the 2025-26 academic year. The new scholarships are:

• Fund 938: LC and CE Jensen Family
  • For graduates of Junction City High School who will enroll at least half time in undergraduate programs at any Title IV eligible college or university in the U.S.
• Fund 939: Sydney C. Furman
  • For Douglas County residents with a minimum 3.0 GPA enrolling at least half time in STEM majors at 2-year or 4-year, public or private, nonprofit, Title IV postsecondary schools in the United States without religious-affiliations
• Fund 940: Mason Van Buren
  • For students who have experienced foster care or been a ward of the court who will enroll at least half time in undergraduate programs at any Title IV school in the U.S.
• Fund 941: You Lead
  • For graduating high school seniors or GED recipients who are Oregon residents with a minimum 3.0 GPA and attend Lane Community College or University of Oregon. Preference for students interested in careers in community organizing, labor, social justice, or environmental advocacy, or similar activities and organizations. 
• Fund 942: Tag it Forward
  • For graduates of high schools in Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Gilliam, Harney, Jefferson, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wasco, Wheeler and Wallowa counties with a minimum 2.0 GPA and will be studying culinary arts, construction trades, fire science, carpentry, heavy equipment operation, HVAC heating and cooling, plumbers, precision production, transportation and mechanical repair. 
• Fund 943: Oregon Collectors’ Association Newman-Hasson Memorial
  • For full time undergraduates attending a 2-year public Title IV school in Oregon.
• Fund 944: Richard Schmidt Geosynthetic
  • For undergraduate engineering students with a 3.5 GPA or higher who are attending a Title IV eligible college, university, or trade school in Oregon.
• Fund 945: GFWC Oregon City Woman’s Club
  • For graduating seniors of high schools in Oregon City with a 3.5 GPA who will be enrolling as full time undergraduate in education, public administration/social service, or health professions at 2- or 4-year, public or private, nonprofit, Title IV postsecondary school in the U.S.
• Fund 946: Dany Lee Mills
  • For Umatilla County residents who are graduating seniors from Stanfield and Echo School districts with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
• Fund 947: Angus and Marcille Ware Memorial
  • For students majoring in forestry or engineering from Stayton High School enrolling full time at any 2- or 4-year, public or private, nonprofit, Title IV postsecondary school in the U.S.
• Fund 948: John and Luise Snyder
  • For graduating seniors from Dallas High School or Morrison Campus Alternative Program with a minimum 3.0 GPA enrolling at least half time at any Title IV eligible postsecondary school in the U.S.
• Fund 949: John and Jaqueline O’Donnell
  • For graduating seniors from Corvallis High School or College Hill Alternative Pathway School with a minimum 3.0 GPA enrolling at least half time at any Title IV eligible postsecondary school in the U.S.

More details and full eligibility requirements for these and all of our scholarships can be found in our catalog.

Request for Grant Applications

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s (HECC) Office of Student Access and Completion (OSAC) seeks to fund capacity building for institutions and/or organizations that serve Oregon communities through supporting college access, career and college related information, and completion of financial aid applications including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (“FAFSA”) and Oregon Student Aid Application (“ORSAA”). This funding opportunity is a competitive grant process available to community-based organizations, colleges, and universities. 

The ASPIRE Capacity Building Grants will support institutions or organizations serving underserved populations and requiring multilingual and culturally competent services for students to better navigate and access career and career opportunities.

Funding will be awarded to entities that aim to create or expand:

• career and college preparation resources,
• activities for high school students transferring to career or college,
• FAFSA/ORSAA completion, and/or
• develop staff training, coordinate initiatives, and systems development that prioritizes more equitable access, and participation for underserved populations.

Additionally, grant recipients will work with OSAC to systematically foster a culture of FAFSA and ORSAA completion, grant and scholarship application completion, and training resource awareness.

HECC has committed $589,000 in funds for this effort and anticipates the award of multiple grants from this RFA. Award amounts are not to exceed $50,000. Regardless of award date, grants will be structured to allow reimbursement for expenses incurred on November 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.

All submissions shall be sent electronically to hecc.procurement@hecc.oregon.gov.  Submissions should be submitted in the format of Attachment A: Application. 

The deadline to apply is December 6, 2024, at 4:00 pm (pt). Submissions received after December 6, 2024 at 4:00 PM may not be accepted. Visit Grant and Contract Opportunities or email lorianne.m.ellis@hecc.oregon.gov for more information.

Administrative Rule Changes

In October, the HECC Commission approved two main administrative rule changes to the Oregon Opportunity Grant. The first set of rule changes came from Senate Bill 1552 (2024 session) to outline a more transparent awarding structure for the Oregon Opportunity Grant. For this rulemaking process, OSAC had extensive discussions with the Oregon Student Aid Advisory for many months to present a clear, but flexible, structure in rule. These changes will begin for the 2025-26 academic year.

The current practice calculates awards based on a percentage of the college sector’s cost of tuition per award tier. The new awarding structure will calculate awards using a base award across all college sectors, then a tuition differential (based on the college sector the student attends) shall be added to the base award. Similar to current practice, students who have the greatest financial need will receive the largest awards.

The second set of changes implemented a longstanding statute to provide guidance on the process to award Oregon Opportunity Grant funds to eligible students who are close to completing their education goals and have exhausted other means of financial assistance. As funding becomes available for this student population, administrative rules are necessary in providing guidance for administering these awards.

For more information, please review the HECC Commission materials and recording:

• Docket Summary: Oregon Opportunity Grant Permanent Rule Changes, October 2024
• Redline Rule Text Changes, October 2024
• HECC October 2024 Commission Meeting (Part 3 of 3 – HECC YouTube Channel)

Serving Student in Rural Oregon

ASPIRE is committed to enhancing career and college readiness across Oregon. Last month, our staff kicked off their annual tour of all 191 sites. Notably, more than 55 percent of ASPIRE locations are in rural areas defined as those more than ten miles from a population center of 40,000 or more, as well as in frontier communities defined as counties with fewer than six residents per square mile. This means ASPIRE staff frequently travel to smaller communities that may lack the same access to career and college readiness support available in suburban and urban areas.

During our visits, we strive to understand what makes each site unique, assist communities in developing tailored career and college readiness goals and plans, and connect them with vital resources and training. Our goal is to bridge the gap in educational support for all students, regardless of their location.

We're seeing positive results from these efforts. Last year, we received a success story from Baker High School that highlighted how ASPIRE helped a student navigate the complex financial aid process, showcasing the meaningful impact of our work.

“I have a young lady that is graduating and attending college (first one in her family to do so). She has been so appreciative of the help that she has received from our FAFSA, financial aid nights, and scholarship work parties. She attended our CGO events as well, and has received enough in grant and scholarship funding that she is completely covered for college this next year. This is all a direct reflection of our ASPIRE activities, and she is just one of many that have been positively impacted by our ASPIRE program here at Baker High School” (Baker High School Coordinator).

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A key tool in the FAFSA completion effort is the FAFSA Plus+ program which provides student-level data on FAFSA completion. Student-level data includes who has or has not completed the FAFSA and students' verification and rejection status. ORSAA data is not available through this program.

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