Educational Stipend Policy
The Educational Stipend Program (ESP) is intended to provide financial support for students who assume paraprofessional positions of responsibility. Often these positions are within student incidental fee-funded programs, co-curricular programs, academic programs, and a number of student organizations that have established a history with the University and provide an inherent contribution to the student life experience at PSU.
The ESP was developed to enhance access to student leadership positions, to provide an additional mechanism for recognizing the valuable contributions student leaders make to co-curricular life, to provide a more stable infrastructure for a core group of student co-curricular programs and organizations, and to adequately compensate students who are working to provide a student-initiated and funded University service. The ESP is not intended to fully compensate student leaders for all of their contributions. The nature of these opportunities is such that they provide paraprofessional experiences that have significant educational benefits. Student Stipends are not wages. Students receiving stipends are not employees of Portland State University for any purpose, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, minimum wage law or any other law or policy. The relationship between the University and students receiving a stipend is that of school and student and not of employer and employee. The purpose of stipends is to support students educational experiences.
