Any person enrolled in a federally recognized Tribal nation will be considered an in-state student at Oregon State University, starting in the fall term of 2022. 

The university announced on Wednesday morning that this policy will apply to all students — whether enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs — for any for-credit course. 

The announcement also encouraged students enrolled in any of the Nine Tribes of Oregon to apply for the Oregon Tribal Student Grant, a new state program that will provide grants to eligible Oregon tribal students that attend any of the ten universities or colleges enrolled in the program.

The grant should cover up to the cost of attendance for Native students who complete the application process and are approved. 

The new policy at OSU comes as a step towards rectification for the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862, which established land grant universities through seizing land from Tribal nations with little or no compensation. Nearly 11 million acres of land belonging to sovereign Tribal nations was taken, resulting in the “displacement, hardship, familial and cultural disruption and destruction, and the denial of educational opportunities for many members of Tribal nations,” said the OSU statement. 

“This new tuition policy advances OSU’s 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,” said OSU’s Interim President Becky Johnson.