I encourage all Eastern Oregon voters to contact your Oregon state legislators and ask them to support the Oregon Opportunity Grant for college students. Federal student loans and Pell Grants cannot provide enough support for lower-income Oregon students to attend college.

I have been teaching in Oregon high schools, colleges and universities for more than 20 years and have seen the value of these Opportunity Grants first hand. Thanks to these programs, more of Oregon’s student’s are able to attend college and serve their communities across the state. My classes at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon are definitely more engaging places for learning when I have students from across the state from different economic backgrounds and with diverse political opinions.

By supporting the Oregon Opportunity Grant you can make my job as a writing teacher even better by sending more of Eastern Oregon’s amazing high school graduates to college.

Stephen Rust

Eugene