Western Oregon University junior Jaylin Hardin, a member of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, has federal financial aid and local scholarships that help pay for college.
“I have a merit-based scholarship from my university, I have the Pell Grant and I have a memorial scholarship I received from Josephine County,” the 21-year-old Hardin said. “I received those, but they just weren’t enough to pay for my degree.”
Hardin is studying to become an early childhood teacher, a career she’s known she wanted to get into since middle school. Her first year at college, Hardin took out about $12,000 in student loans to cover the remaining costs to attend Western.
But Hardin’s student loan debt hasn’t grown since then. That’s because awards from the Oregon Tribal Student Grant have been filling in the gap since her sophomore year. Hardin said the grant is one the best resources available to tribal members, and will help her into the future…