When Oregon lawmakers passed legislation in 2021 requiring every public college and university to hire a dedicated benefits navigator, they were responding to a crisis hiding in plain sight.
Research from early 2020 had found that nearly 70% of Oregon college students had experienced food insecurity, and 20% had faced housing instability within the previous year. The new law, backed by $5 million allocated to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), created a new campus role—staff trained to connect students with SNAP, housing assistance, health care, and other public resources they were eligible for but often never accessed.
Four years later, that infrastructure is being tested by rising student need, shrinking budgets, and a federal landscape growing more hostile to social support programs.
From Single Navigator to Peer Network
The early results from individual campuses were striking. At Oregon State University (OSU), basic needs navigator Miguel Arellano helped students access more than $800,000 in state and federal assistance in just three years before the 2021 law even took effect. But as demand grew, OSU discovered a single navigator model couldn’t keep pace. Students were waiting a month or more for appointments.
OSU scrapped that approach and rebuilt one around a peer-to-peer model of trained student workers who have utilized the system themselves, and became available on a drop-in basis.
Today, the OSU Basic Needs Center offers free laundry, emergency showers, a hygiene pantry, a textbook lending library, and SNAP application support, all staffed primarily by students. The team recently expanded to 24 peer navigators.
The philosophy behind the model is deliberate. “We do it with our students; we don’t do it for them,” says peer navigator Susie Ortiz, a third-year nutrition and dietetics major. “A lot of that is to help build self-efficacy and autonomy. We’re here to help guide and have it be a learning experience.”
That approach addresses the stigma of seeking help, which often serves as a major barrier. Asking for assistance with food or housing can feel deeply personal, and peer navigators—who have faced similar challenges—can make those conversations less daunting.
Navigators Across the State
While OSU’s peer model has drawn attention, the legislative mandate created navigator positions across all 17 community colleges and seven public universities in Oregon. The HECC distributes funding to each institution and supports a statewide Community of Practice, convened by Portland Community College, where navigators share best practices and coordinate professional development.
At Rogue Community College in southern Oregon, Resource Coordinator Susan Bame has personally assisted more than 1,500 students by distributing emergency funds, grocery cards, gas cards, and school supplies, while also advocating for those experiencing homelessness. The college’s Osprey Care Fund has provided nearly $135,000 to more than 350 students since 2019. Bame helped build a virtual Advocacy and Resource Center connecting students to campus and community resources, and she kept the college’s food pantries running by herself one summer when the coordinator departed unexpectedly.
The breadth of the work reflects what navigators say is the job’s essential character—meeting students wherever they are.
“Each student’s situation is unique,” says Bame. “I work closely with individuals to navigate complex systems, including applying for public benefits like SNAP, TANF, and the Oregon Health Plan.”
For Bame, the stakes of that work are inseparable from broader questions of equity and economic mobility.
“By addressing the non-academic challenges that disproportionately affect low-income and first-generation college students, we can close equity gaps, increase graduation rates, and bolster our local and state economies,” she says. “Funding these positions is a cost-effective strategy to ensure that taxpayer dollars invested in education yield the highest return.”
Political Headwinds and Budget Pressure
For the third consecutive year, student advocates are pressing the Oregon Legislature to expand basic needs funding. A package of bills—House Bills 3182 and 3183—would allocate $18.5 million in new investment, with $10 million directed at the existing benefits navigator programs. Another $6.5 million would support affordable college housing efforts and $2 million would fund low-cost textbooks.
However, the timing is difficult. A state revenue forecast released in May projected Oregon will have roughly $500 million less to spend in the next budget cycle. Meanwhile, potential federal rollbacks of student support programs have amplified urgency among proponents, who argue that state investment must step in where the federal government may pull back.
Many navigators have operated with little to no direct budget since their positions were created. The new bills would, for the first time, give some of them dedicated funding above and beyond their salaries. “When students have access to the support they need, they are more likely to graduate, secure meaningful employment, and contribute positively to our communities,” Bame says.
What’s at Stake
Oregon has previously projected that 300,000 new jobs will require some form of post-secondary credential between 2020 and 2030, but the state is on pace to award only 200,000 by decade’s end. Supporters argue that addressing basic needs is inseparable from closing that gap. When students can’t afford rent or food, the credential gap widens with them.
The case is less abstract for those who have lived it. Across Oregon campuses, navigators describe a pattern—a student arrives in crisis, gets connected to emergency housing or food assistance, stabilizes, and goes on to finish their degree. It’s a sequence that basic needs advocates say repeats itself often enough to make the math compelling—and the argument for sustained investment hard to dismiss.
Whether Oregon’s legislative approach proves durable may depend on what happens in Salem this session—and whether lawmakers decide that keeping students housed and fed is a workforce strategy, not just a social service.
