Financial Aid & Scholarships

Scholarship Advice from Mr

Mr. Wong Summarizes Some Sage Scholarship Search Advice

Click the document on the left for some good tips...

Let's start with the American Opportunity Tax Credit because this bit of financial assistance is good no matter what school you attend. Generally, a taxpayer whose modified adjusted gross income is $80,000 or less ($160,000 or less for joint filers) can claim the credit for the qualified expenses of an eligible student. It is worth up to $2,500 each of your first four years in college. Read more by clicking the link above or on the right.

Financial Aid

FAFSA

(Free Application for Federal Student Aid)

A must for almost all college students, regardless of income. See links to resources below . . .

ORSAA

(Oregon Student Aid Application) Financial Aid application for Oregon residents who have undocumented status, DACA, and/or Temporary Protected Status.

Pell Grant Info

Pell Grants are federal grants based on financial need. "Grants" mean the money is not paid back. Fill out FAFSA to be eligible. A very general rule of thumb is that two parent family of 4 may qualify for minimum grant with income up to $76,000. See links below regarding special programs for free tuition at Oregon's major Universities for Pell recipients.

SHS Scholarship Page.

You've got to check this out! Particularly helpful for local scholarships, but also has links to state and national sites.

Here is your link to all SHS local scholarships!

Click link to the left to start your local scholarship search. Also includes links to statewide scholarships.

Local Scholarships by Due Date

Here is a handy spreadsheet listing local scholarship by due date

SHS LOCAL SCHOLARSHIP

"Brief Summary Page"

Click above for brief description/summary of local scholarships.

Oregon Promise

Free community college tuition for students with 2.0 GPA. Applies to any Oregon Community College, must enroll within six months of graduation.

What's the difference between Oregon Promise and Chemeketa Scholars? The Oregon Promise requires a 2.0 GPA and applies to all community colleges in Oregon, while the Chemeketa scholars program requires a 3.5 GPA and is only good at Chemeketa. Chemeketa Scholars is a separate and more involved applications. So what do you get for having a 3.5 GPA? You get a full two years of free tuition regardless of your parent's income or college credits you may have taken at SHS. The Oregon Promise some years does not give grants to upper income families (it depends on state funds from year to year), and gives you 90 credits, minus the number of college credits you earned while at SHS. Click on the links above and below to learn more about the application process!

Chemeketa Scholars

Like the Oregon Promise, but with some extra perks. Requires 3.5 GPA at end of first semester senior year. Only good at Chemeketa

OSAC:

One application with over $17 million in scholarships for Oregon students. Importantly, gives access to the Oregon Opportunity Grant (a need-based grant for Oregonians attending an Or. College or Community College).

WUE

(Western Undergraduate Exchange) is an agreement among 160+ colleges across the West, allowing for reduced out-of-state tuition. In some states, the program makes out-of-state tuition less than your in-state Oregon tuition would be.
Availability varies widely -- a few schools automatically award the WUE to all out-of-state students. Other schools only offer a very few number of WUE awards to students studying very specific degrees. You'll have to Google "WUE + the school you're interested in" to see what your odds are.

Portland State, Western Oregon, OSU and U of O all have programs that offer full tuition scholarships for Pell Grant recipients.

A decent rule of thumb is that families making less than $65,000 may qualify for a Pell Grant. It depends largely on your family size and the cost of the university you are attending. Be careful not to assume you won’t qualify – you won’t know until you fill out the FAFSA.

PSU’s program is called “Four Years Free.”

As of 2025, there was no GPA requirement.

PSU actually has a whole "suite" of free & discounted tuition programs: HERE

(tuition is likely free if income is below $100K and you have 3.2 GPA)

OSU’s program is called “Bridge to Success.”

As of 2025, there was a 3.4 GPA requirement.

U of O’s program is called “Pathway Oregon.”

As of 2025, there was a 3.4 GPA requirement.

WOU’s program is called “Pell Plus.”

As of 2025, there was a 3.0 GPA requirement.

Be sure to check out the following page . . . Members of the class of 2021 did some research and summarized some traditional, and some not-so-traditional scholarships! Click HERE.