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Report looks into effects of low higher-ed funding
by Allie Grasgreen | News Reporter
University junior Brooke Herbert summed up the general student consensus on consistently low post-secondary education funding from the state: "I think it sucks."
The Oregon Student Association (OSA) compiled about seven months' worth of research into a 57-page report entitled "Where Are We At and Where Are We Going? A Survey of Students and Campuses in Oregon." The report includes data gathered through more than 4,000 student surveys, as well as faculty, staff and administration interviews conducted on all seven Oregon public universities and eight community colleges.
The report's self-described objective was to show just how badly students are suffering from a decade of state disinvestment in higher education institutions.
Some of the report's findings are startling.
Courtney Sproule, OSA Communications Director, said the organization is very concerned about the 43 percent of college seniors who were forced to spend more time at school because of an inability to enroll in the classes they needed to graduate. Fewer class offerings at public universities has put students at a disadvantage because they are forced to pay even more tuition.
University junior Cooper Jobling, a political science major, has had more than one such experience. Although he is set to graduate on time, he said it is pretty much do-or-die because overfilled classes forced him to put the required courses on hold.
"It was pretty frustrating," Jobling said. "When you miss out on one class, that basically throws a wrench in your whole schedule and you have to reorganize everything."
The OSA reported other problems that could be remedied through the increased state funding that it is pushing so hard for.
Sproule mentioned that 16 percent of students cited a lack of advising as a reason for their extended stay in college.
"That's more harmful to students than before because tuition is skyrocketing," she said.
Herbert had an ill experience with a class adviser. She said the general adviser misled her by implying that her major program would be more difficult to get involved in than it actually is, and that she would have to stay at the University longer. The adviser didn't really seem to know what he was talking about, she said.
The Oregon Student Association (OSA) compiled about seven months' worth of research into a 57-page report entitled "Where Are We At and Where Are We Going? A Survey of Students and Campuses in Oregon." The report includes data gathered through more than 4,000 student surveys, as well as faculty, staff and administration interviews conducted on all seven Oregon public universities and eight community colleges.
The report's self-described objective was to show just how badly students are suffering from a decade of state disinvestment in higher education institutions.
Some of the report's findings are startling.
Courtney Sproule, OSA Communications Director, said the organization is very concerned about the 43 percent of college seniors who were forced to spend more time at school because of an inability to enroll in the classes they needed to graduate. Fewer class offerings at public universities has put students at a disadvantage because they are forced to pay even more tuition.
University junior Cooper Jobling, a political science major, has had more than one such experience. Although he is set to graduate on time, he said it is pretty much do-or-die because overfilled classes forced him to put the required courses on hold.
"It was pretty frustrating," Jobling said. "When you miss out on one class, that basically throws a wrench in your whole schedule and you have to reorganize everything."
The OSA reported other problems that could be remedied through the increased state funding that it is pushing so hard for.
Sproule mentioned that 16 percent of students cited a lack of advising as a reason for their extended stay in college.
"That's more harmful to students than before because tuition is skyrocketing," she said.
Herbert had an ill experience with a class adviser. She said the general adviser misled her by implying that her major program would be more difficult to get involved in than it actually is, and that she would have to stay at the University longer. The adviser didn't really seem to know what he was talking about, she said.
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