Portland State University senior Zahra Malikshah, knows that a college degree is often the key that unlocks opportunities to higher-paying jobs and economic stability. The benefits are clear to many young people. But Malikshah, 26, believes a lot of people her age just don’t have the money or resources to attend a college or university in the first place.

“Kids can’t pick themselves up by their bootstraps anymore because we can’t afford boots,” Malikshah, who spent part of her childhood in Oregon’s foster care system, said. “But once we get those boots on and strapped up, we can pull [ourselves] up.”

Malikshah is set to graduate from Portland State in June with a bachelor’s degree in social science. She credits a large part of her success in college to programs designed to help students with limited financial resources thrive while in school, such as rental assistance through College Housing Northwest.

For the past year, the nonprofit’s Affordable Rent for College Students program, or ARCS, has paid half the rent of Malikshah’s $1,100 per month Goose Hollow studio apartment. Malikshah said the rental assistance lifts a huge financial burden off her back and that’s allowed her to focus on school.

“I have straight A’s and B’s. I have a 3.0 right now,” Malikshah said. “I think that when youth are not focusing on just survival they can focus on bettering themselves, furthering their higher education.”

College students and their families have been dealing with the rising cost of tuition for decades. But students now say other costs associated with college are becoming a barrier, such as expenses for housing, food and textbooks. A package of bills in the Oregon Legislature would expand student support resources, like the rental assistance program Malikshah benefited from, so more Oregonians can successfully finish college and obtain a degree.

Basic needs funding to make ends meet

The Student Basic Needs and Workforce Stabilization Act, HB 3182 and HB 3183, asks state legislators to set aside $18.5 million to aid students. More than half of that amount, $10 million, would go to the already established benefits navigator programs. Another $6.5 million would help fund affordable college housing efforts, like the ARCS program that Malikshah relied on. Oregon’s public colleges and universities and nonprofits would be able to apply for the funds through grant programs run by the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.

The remaining $2 million in the package would boost funding for the state’s Open Educational Resources program, which provides low-cost and free textbook materials for students throughout Oregon.

This is the third time college students and their supporters have tried to get lawmakers on board with this package. The effort comes at a difficult time, as the Trump Administration considers eliminating federally-funded student support initiatives that offer extra financial aid to low-income students.

“State investments are more important than ever to fill in the gaps left by reduced federal support,” said Nick Keough, legislative analyst with the Oregon affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. “If we don’t act now, students are going to bear the brunt of these cuts.”

A less-than-rosy state revenue forecast also complicates the success of the bills, both of which are currently sitting in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. State economists’ most recent forecast on May 14 projected Oregon will have about $500 million less to spend in the next biennium. The expected shortfall sets up a tough battle for all higher education spending bills making their way through the Legislature.

The bills build on the work already done by benefit navigators at Oregon’s public higher education institutions. Colleges and universities all over Oregon started hiring the navigators in 2021. That was after lawmakers passed a bill requiring an on-campus staff position focused on connecting students with scholarships, helping students sign up for food stamps and linking them to outside organizations that offer other social services.

Many benefit navigators have been operating with little to no budget since their positions were created. These bills would give some navigators a source of funding for the first time.

Supporters of the package say this investment will also help more students cross the finish line and obtain a post-secondary degree, potentially bringing the state closer to its long-term workforce goals.

Oregon officials have previously projected that 300,000 new jobs in the state will require a degree, certificate or other type of credential between 2020-2030. But the state is lagging behind and is projected to award only 200,000 credentials by the end of this decade, according to the HECC’s most recent adult attainment goal report from 2024.

“If Oregon is serious about equity, workforce development and student success, then we must invest in addressing students’ basic needs,” said University of Oregon senior Alex Aghdaei at an April Joint Committee on Ways and Means meeting. “The priority for higher education in this session needs to be shoring up our students’ ability to afford to live and learn on our campuses.”

Affordable housing is a brick wall for students

A survey released in February from Temple University’s Hope Center showed that about three in every five college students experienced some form of basic needs insecurity between Spring 2023 and Summer 2025. Of the more than 74,000 students polled at institutions across the U.S., almost half — 48% — said that they had experienced an unstable housing situation during that time.

“Housing is the most expensive part of going to college,” Pam Blumenthal, who leads College Housing Northwest’s ARCS program, said. “There’s been a lot of effort made at college campuses related to food insecurity, childcare support and free book resources. But housing is an area that’s tough.”

Blumenthal believes a lack of affordable housing options is keeping many people from going to college at all. And for students who are forced to leave college after they’ve enrolled, rising rents can be what pushes them out. She said joining the coalition of organizations supporting the student basic needs package was a no brainer for her organization.

“We know that attaining some kind of post-secondary education is the clearest path out of poverty,” Blumenthal said. “So if we want to get upstream of chronic homelessness, then education is the way to do that.”

The need for affordable student housing far outweighs College Housing Northwest’s capacity. The nonprofit’s ARCS program currently houses 125 students throughout the Portland metro area, where there are thousands of current or potential college students. But with additional state investment, it’s a program that could grow to serve more students.

Many students who receive rental assistance from the program are referred by college and university benefits navigators. Michael Koach, a junior at Portland State, is one of them. Koach was close to becoming homeless last year after his previous living situation became untenable.

“It was either drop out of college and take up a second job to support myself — because rent in Portland is insane — or live out of my car and couch surf with people while I finish my degree,” Koach said.

But after a quick connection to ARCS, Koach has been living in his own subsidized studio apartment. In less than a month, he’ll graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business.

Koach said the rental assistance he’s received has made his last year at Portland State more sustainable. He was able to focus on school projects and internships he was passionate about.

“That’s why basic needs programs are so critical for students: it’s kind of a last lifeline before a lot of students drop out of college,” Koach said. “It was for me.”

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