Attending post-secondary education is a rare and beautiful opportunity, and anyone who is (or has ever been) enrolled deserves to be proud. But, wow, it is so hard sometimes. 

University of Oregon’s in-state tuition has jumped 4.29 percent from 2025, making it the biggest tuition increase since 2022; it’s an estimated $17,475 for Oregon residents and $47,466 for nonresidents for the 2026-2027 academic year. UO’s cost of attendance now directly rivals University of California schools. Even Lane Community College’s tuition increases every year, going from $149 per credit hour in 2025 to $151 in 2026 — but that’s after a 3 percent increase from 2024.

And that’s not counting everything else.

For many students — especially students who are first-generation, older, low income, parents or are from any marginalized background — going to school can mean having to choose between paying rent, buying groceries or even obtaining course materials. Other things fall by the wayside — getting glasses, going to the hospital or even getting a plane ticket home in a family emergency. These types of financial insecurities affect nearly half of all Oregon college students.

Due to House Bill 2835, which passed in 2021, the gap between education and basic needs doesn’t have to be so huge. For the last five years, HB 2835, known as the Benefits Navigator Bill, has mandated that every public university and community college in Oregon — including UO and LCC — have dedicated spaces to ensure student stability and connection to resources for basic needs outside of tuition.

At LCC, this is called Community Advocacy and Resource Education, or CARE at Lane. The bill funds at least one employee to help students with basic needs resources. Rosa Lopez, a faculty member who has been with CARE since the beginning, says that, per the bill, “this person is an expert in community resources, and they are able to educate the students.” Thanks to additional funding from the statewide Pathways to Opportunity project, CARE is a team of people. 

LCC students reach out to CARE if “all of a sudden they had an unexpected emergency medical expense, or maybe they’re about to be evicted, and something is about to impact their ability to continue in their education,” she says. 

If a student needs glasses, course materials, help accessing SNAP benefits or anything that would otherwise distract from the top priority of going to school, CARE is there to help.

“The reality is, you need access to community resources if you’re going to be a student full-time,” Lopez says. “Because it’s not like back in the day. People shouldn’t just take out massive amounts of loans and go to school.” She says that CARE is especially imperative for LCC students, a large percentage of whom are nontraditional. 

“Sometimes it’s ‘Here’s the resources about where you can park your car that you’re living in,’ because we have a very high percentage of unhoused student population as well.”

At the University of Oregon, the Basic Needs Program is funded through the Benefits Navigator Bill, as well as through the ASUO (the associated student union) and community donations. With four professional staff and a team of student employees, the program has several ways to connect students with resources. 

The first is its student subsidies, with funds set aside for childcare, housing and course material and textbook needs (the textbook and course material subsidy is paused for fall term 2026 as it is getting restructured due to high demand). 

The next is its food programming, with the student food pantry, located at the Grace Lutheran Church, a planned food pantry to open in the EMU the 2026-2027 academic year, and a weekly produce drop at the EMU. It also connects students to community resources, such as assistance with setting up SNAP benefits, and a comprehensive off-campus housing directory. 

There is also a crisis fund. “Students are often applying to that fund for things like unexpected dental, unexpected medical procedures, a loss in the family, and the need to travel to go home for a funeral, or maybe they have unexpected expenses with rent,” says Julia Morrill, UO’s Basic Needs director. 

“With the changes in the federal government, FAFSA and Pell Grant and parent student loans, a lot more students are looking for different kinds of ways to finance their education,” Morrill says. 

Because of this, to utilize these subsidies or programs at either school, the only requirement is student enrollment. “We don’t want students to feel like they have to — what social services folks might call — ‘perform their poverty,’” Morrill says. “We don’t want to make students work harder than they have to to get access to the resources.”

UO Basic Needs Coordinator Nick Dikas says that BNP has the flexibility to cater directly to students. “We also can be responsive to what students are telling us about the processes that we have, and the programs that we’re operating, to make sure that it’s meeting student needs and not putting up unnecessary barriers.”

With the state of the economy and the federal government, tuition skyrockets while the ability to receive financial help dwindles. Educational financial stress is too much of a worry as it is — but food, shelter and childcare are essential to living. The basic needs programs across college campuses means that there are options.  

CARE info and drop-in hours at LaneCC.edu, or Career Pathways Building 4, Room 210, 4000 East 30th Avenue, on the Lane Community College main campus, or call 541-463-4701. Open only to LCC students. Basic Needs Program info and assistance request form available at BasicNeeds.uoregon.edu. Open only to UO students.