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Van Le and her family came to the United States from Vietnam 13 years ago. The school-age Le overcame language and cultural barriers as she watched her parents and older siblings struggle with low wages and work long hours.

Ethan Webb is the first of his five siblings to complete high school. Their family is without a father and making ends meet each month is difficult.

For Le and Webb, going to college could have been a distant dream.

Americans believe in educational opportunity and its pivotal role in the American Dream. In a 2003 survey, 86 percent of those polled agree that every capable person has a right to receive a college education, even if he or she can’t afford it, according to the Public Agenda and National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Yet nearly 48 percent of qualified low-income high school graduates in the United States forgo higher education because it costs too much.

“When talented students have neither means nor family support for a college education, they face a bleak future,” says Agnes Hoffman, PSU associate vice provost for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. “In these instances our entire community is diminished. Over a lifetime, the earnings gap between those with a high school diploma and those with a B.A. or higher exceeds $1 million. But beyond this economic disparity, the college degree is a great leveler, helping to bridge social, cultural, and ideological differences that divide society.”

The largest U.S. high school class ever will graduate in 2009, lending urgency to the issue of access to higher education. However, economics can shut the campus gates on promising students, notes Hoffman. The full cost of a college education includes more than tuition, which is less than 35 percent of a student’s financial burden. Le and Webb can expect to spend approximately $17,000 per year for tuition, books, room and board, transportation, and other living expenses.

Portland State serves more students with high financial need than any other university in Oregon. Many, like Webb, are the first in their families to attend college. Nearly 70 percent of PSU students receive financial aid, mostly in the form of loans. Average loan debt at graduation approaches $18,000 and can take a decade or more to repay.

If the only aid a low-income student can procure is loans, the only alternative for some is to work more. Over 75 percent of PSU students work part or full time while tackling a full academic schedule. The casualty? “Academic success,” Hoffman says. “There’s substantial evidence that inversely correlates the hours a student works and grade point averages. Increased work hours will decrease academic success. Earn more, learn less.”

Freshman Van Le is the first in her family to pursue a university degree, thanks to a new PSU scholarship. Photo by Steve Dipaola.

At Portland State available dollars for loans and work-study outnumber scholarships two to one. But gifts to the University’s Building Our Future campaign are helping to narrow that gap. The campaign’s scholarship goal totals $15.34 million; over $12.85 million has been committed to date.

Le and Webb enrolled as freshmen at Portland State in September, thanks to the new Hopes and Dreams Scholarship created by an anonymous PSU Foundation board member. The scholarship assists first-generation students with financial need.

“I want students to believe that their dreams can become real,” the donor says. “These students are working hard, they have talent and potential. All that’s missing is a little financial assistance. I know this from my own experience. I look forward to hearing over the years how their lives worked out.”

“We had overwhelming response to our announcement of the Hopes and Dreams Scholarship,” says Jo Lucke, PSU scholarship coordinator. “More than 130 qualified students from around the state applied. There is definitely an urgent need out there for this kind of assistance.” Fifteen recipients of the $2,500 awards began classes on campus this fall.

“I believe education is the greatest single socioeconomic factor in our society. Providing opportunities to gain a higher level of education can change lives,” says Irving Levin, also a PSU Foundation board member. Levin and his wife, Stephanie Fowler, established a similar scholarship this summer. The Irving Levin/Stephanie Fowler Scholarship will provide up to $4,000 a year for as many as four years for first-generation students with financial need and academic promise.

“Many first-generation students face incredible obstacles on the path to a university education,” Fowler says. “We hope our scholarship program can move some of those obstacles out of the way.”

The Hopes and Dreams Scholarship is helping to make a dream real for Le, who looks forward to becoming a pediatrician someday. “I was happy when I found out I got the scholarship—it will help a lot,” she says. “I’m excited to start college. I just hope I can meet everyone’s expectations and do well.”