The Higher Education Coordinating Commission has awarded the Future Ready Oregon Workforce Ready Grant to Oregon State University Ecampus veterans. 

This means Ecampus veterans will receive a grant to assist with housing as they enter spring term.

The purpose of the FROWRG grant is to “encourage innovation and remove barriers to job training and education for historically underserved and marginalized populations in Oregon, including veterans,” said Shannon Riggs, executive director of Academic Programs and Learning Innovation.

HECC is a committee dedicated to discussing the funding and policies that go toward higher education in Oregon.

“​HECC envisions a future in which all Oregonians — and especially those whom our systems have underserved and marginalized — benefit from the transformational power of high-quality postsecondary education and training,” the HECC website stateS. 

$52,737 was offered from this grant to assist veterans with housing affordability while taking Ecampus courses during this first phase. 

The FROWRG grant will support students who are student veterans studying fully online and in medical, manufacturing and technology fields in spring term.

The project proposed for the FROWRG grant was to supplement the Post 9/11 GI Bill. 

The funding for the FROWRG grant was accepted to eradicate the disparity between funding for the Ecampus veterans in the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which is $1000 less than full-time student veterans.

According to the GI Bill Comparison Tool, veterans who have served over 36 months and are in-person students at OSU would receive $1,932 a month for housing while veterans attending OSU who have also served over 36 months would only get $988 a month for housing. These numbers would be true if it weren’t for the new FROWRG Grant. 

“It’s an older law. Online education has grown significantly since it was passed,” Riggs said.

According to Riggs, her goal is to bridge the gap between the disparity in housing assistance, pushing to alter the Post 9/11 GI Bill so the FROWRG grant is no longer needed.

“The (Post 9/11) GI Bill started about 75 years ago and has helped millions of American veterans get a college education. It has just become a little out of date. Ecampus believes that the (Post 9/11) GI Bill should be updated to be more inclusive of online students,” Riggs said.

Ecampus plans to apply for additional funding in phase two of the grant.