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When the question of our state's financial instability and its effects on our communities is posed, the voter registration, education, and turnout work conducted by students at public community colleges and universities in anticipation of January's election speaks for itself.

Students attending under-funded, over-capacity, public institutions of post-secondary education have already felt the effects of our state's instability.  These effects have come in the form of increased tuition, slashes to need-based aid, and enrollment spikes that schools don't have the capacity, professors, or chairs to accomodate. 

The Oregon Student Association-led Student Vote Coalition registered 14,721 students to vote and made almost 40,000 voter education and "Get out the Vote" contacts this fall and winter, demonstrating that students care about these negative effects AND getting engaged in the electoral and legislative process that can help curtail them.

Our community colleges and universities are the best investment the state can make right now. Regardless of one's opinion of kicker reform, students, and Oregon, need legislators to prioritize college access and affordability by allocating $19.7 million for the Oregon Opportunity Grant and making every effort possible to keep tuition low!   

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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