SALEM — Higher education advocates are joining with a group fighting hunger to support a bill in the Oregon Legislature aimed at helping relieve food and housing insecurity for students.
Willamette Week
The need for strong, independent local journalism
is more urgent than ever. Please support the city we
love by joining Friends of Willamette Week.
Some Portlanders Must Choose Between a Degree and a Meal More than half of Black students at Portland State University reported insecurity about where their next meal was coming from. Portland State University. (Henry Cromett) Updated February 8 A college degree is often a path out of poverty. But the people who struggle most to afford college in Oregon? Black and Indigenous students. A 2019 Oregon survey asked community college students across the state about their financial situations, and it found disparities in food and housing access. It revealed that 50% of Black students face food insecurity while 61% experienced housing insecurity.