Savina Zuniga was a Portland teenager when a 2016 storm damaged her apartment so badly that she and her grandmother were evicted.
The experience of homelessness that followed shaped her education, her advocacy, and eventually a state law that has since helped nearly 400 Oregon students attend public colleges with their remaining tuition waived.
The program Zuniga helped create, expanded by House Bill 4013 in 2022, waives remaining tuition and mandatory fees at Oregon's public universities and community colleges after federal and state grants have been applied.
That includes Portland Community College and Portland State University, giving local students who experienced homelessness a direct path to a degree without the tuition bill that often stops them.
Nearly 400 students have been approved for the waiver since 2022, according to Matt Rasmussen, manager of the Department of Human Services' Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program, as reported by OregonLive on Thursday, July 30.
How Zuniga's story led to the law
After the 2016 eviction, Zuniga connected through her school counselor to Host Homes, an Oregon program that places young people experiencing homelessness with licensed volunteer host families. That support helped her graduate high school a year early.
But when she filled out her FAFSA before college, Zuniga found additional scholarships and resources available to foster youth.
She couldn't check that box.
"I knew that I couldn't check the box. I had to say 'no' even though I felt like it was unfair, because I went through a lot of the same things they went through," Zuniga told OregonLive.
Before 2022, only foster youth qualified for Oregon's tuition waiver. Zuniga's advocacy helped expand it to include young people who experienced homelessness. She now attends the University of Nevada, Reno, studying political science. She isn't using Oregon's program herself but helped build it.
Who qualifies
To be eligible, students must:
- Be under 25
- Have experienced at least 180 days of unaccompanied homelessness between ages 14 and 24
- Have received services from an ODHS-contracted provider after turning 16
- Be enrolled in at least one course credit toward an undergraduate degree at an Oregon public college or university
- Maintain good academic standing
The waiver covers up to four years of undergraduate study and is applied after federal and state grants, including the Oregon Opportunity Grant. Students who are undocumented or hold DACA status can qualify through the Oregon Student Aid Application instead of the FAFSA.
The scale of the need
Oregon has the second-highest rate of unsheltered homelessness among unaccompanied youth nationally, according to the 2025 YEHP legislative report citing 2024 federal Point-in-Time count data.
YEHP-funded programs served 4,946 youth in the last calendar year, with 85% linked to public benefits.
Federal funding pressures are mounting. Social Services Block Grant funding, which has historically provided $600,000 to YEHP, is among streams under consideration for removal. Delays in Runaway and Homeless Youth Act grants have also strained local providers.
How to apply
There is no application deadline. Students can submit the tuition-and-fee waiver application at any point during their enrollment, but must first complete either the FAFSA or the Oregon Student Aid Application. For help, email [email protected].
