For many of Oregon’s lower-income families, sending a student to college feels like climbing a mountain without any training. From cost, to applying, to filling out federal aid forms, the unrelenting uphill process turns many away long before high school graduation.

The University of Oregon is working to change that by reaching students and their families earlier and making the financial aid process easier to understand. Roger Thompson, vice president for Enrollment Management, presented the UO’s strategic enrollment management components at the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Officers annual conference in Portland. The non-profit organization represents more than 350 accredited higher education schools in the western United States and Canada. The annual meeting offers training and emphasis on practical strategies and creative approaches to issues in admissions, recruitment and records.

The presentation, “Reshaping the Freshman Class with Need & Merit Based Financial Aid,” touched on the UO’s customized recruitment process, changing demographics and graduation rates, but the emphasis focused on using institutional financial aid to attract diverse and academically talented students.

“You’ll never accomplish recruitment goals without thinking of financial aid,” said Thompson. The need-based PathwayOregon and merit-based Summit and Apex scholarships are programs that helped shaped the 2014 freshman class that is the UO’s most diverse and among the highest achieving.

“There are tons of really bright kids who have been dealt a tough hand,” Thompson said. “With these scholarships, we can reach them in eighth or ninth grade and say, ‘We know it’s challenging, but if you work hard and meet these requirements, we’ll pay tuition for you.’”

PathwayOregon is a program that addresses the need of Oregon’s lowest income families, many of whom are the first generation to go to college. Students who are Pell Grant-eligible, with a high school GPA of 3.4 or higher, receive full tuition and fees, renewable for four years.

There are 540 PathwayOregon students in the current freshman class — approximately 40 percent of whom are minority — receiving more than $1.2 million in institutional aid. The program, which was redesigned in Fall 2012, has more than a 90 percent retention rate, a result of student support services to help these students.

The Summit and Apex scholarships reward academically achieving students who meet minimum GPA and SAT/ACT requirements.  The awards are also renewable for four years. Like PathwayOregon, these scholarships have clear, accessible eligibility criteria, which help families plan ahead. The UO awarded $250 million dollars in financial aid this year, with 73 percent of undergraduates receiving some amount of aid.

“Merit scholarships increase the quality of student at all levels, but over two-thirds of our merit students have need and our programs recognize this fact,” said Thompson.

“This is a new wave of recruitment that the UO is doing and uncharacteristic of models most schools have,” said Wesley Holland, registrar at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where enrollment was reduced to increase the quality of student and program. “We have to start thinking about our kids. The UO is reaching back into the community and bringing back students who have drive and rewarding them for doing well.”

For Thompson, that means getting information to students and families early, keeping the process personal and staying transparent in the process.

“I don’t ever want us to lose a great student because they can’t afford it.”

--By Heidi Hiaasen, Public Affairs Communications