Enrolled members of all federally recognized tribal nations eligible for in-state tuition at OSU

CORVALLIS, Ore. (KTVZ) -– Enrolled members of all 574 federally recognized Tribal nations across America will pay in-state tuition at Oregon State University beginning this fall term, regardless of where they live, the university announced Wednesday.

The policy will apply to both new and currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students and covers all for-credit courses at OSU, which was established under the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862. The Morrill Act resulted in the seizure of nearly 11 million acres belonging to 250 sovereign Tribal nations, with little or no compensation.

Students who are enrolled members of the Nine Tribes of Oregon may also be eligible for the state of Oregon’s new Oregon Tribal Student Grant Program, which provides assistance up to the cost of attendance at public and private non-profit colleges and universities in the state.

“Tribal citizens from throughout Oregon and the country represent multiple sovereign nations and are valued, contributing members of the OSU community,” said Becky Johnson, interim president of Oregon State University. “This new tuition policy advances our commitment – in the spirit of self-reflection, learning, reconciliation and partnership – that the university will be of enduring benefit to Tribal nations and their citizens throughout Oregon and the country.”

For more information about OSU’s Tribal tuition programs, visit the university’s Admissions Residency website.

In 1868, the Oregon Legislature designated Corvallis College as the state’s land grant institution. Soon after, the state received 90,000 acres of federal lands – taken from the Klamath, Coos, Lower Umpqua, Siuslaw and Coquille people – to be sold to create an endowment supporting the growth of what is now known as Oregon State University.

“OSU acknowledges the impacts the Morrill Act has had on Tribal nations in Oregon and throughout the United States,” Johnson said.

OSU’s Corvallis campus is within the traditional homelands of the Marys River or Ampinefu Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855, Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in western Oregon. Their living descendants are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

In Bend, Oregon State University-Cascades sits within the traditional homelands of the Wasq'u (Wasco) and Tana'nma (Warm Springs) people, who legally retain customary hunting, fishing and gathering rights within the region. Also, Numu (Northern Paiute) people were forcibly relocated to the region from Oregon’s Lake, Harney and Malheur counties. Today, their living descendants are part of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.