CORVALLIS, Ore. – The College Assistance Migrant Program at Oregon State University has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to continue serving eligible children of migrant and seasonal farm worker families for another five years.

The program, known as CAMP, is designed to help students develop their skills to succeed in college.

The grant will provide outreach to eligible students from migrant and seasonal farm worker backgrounds throughout the state, and will assist students in applying for financial aid, college admissions and scholarships, as well as providing a summer orientation program. Students will receive academic support and supplemental advising as well as mentors during their first year in college. CAMP has received $419,828 for the first year, which will be renewed through 2013.
 
OSU had a CAMP program in the early 1990s but its funding was not renewed. The program was re-established in 2004, and is now under the direction of Amas Aduviri. In the last five years OSU CAMP has served 168 students, and is one of the most successful programs in the nation. It is ranked one of the top among CAMP programs for helping students in their first year in college; continuing onto their second year of college, and for its effectiveness and efficiency.
 
Aduviri said that the OSU application was ranked second out of 43 applications reviewed from programs competing for 13 funding slots. He believes, because of their high ranking, OSU received all of the grant money it requested.

“We were competing against great programs that have been around for a long time,” Aduviri pointed out, adding that it made the grant award an even greater honor. “We’re one of the top programs in the country but we’ve only had five years of experience. Some of these programs have had 25 years plus of experience.”
 
CAMP serves students during their first year of college. OSU CAMP has a high success rate. Of students in the program, more than 95 percent complete their first year of college and more than 90 percent continue to go onto their second year of college. Nearly 20 CAMP students from previous cohort groups have already graduated from OSU and many are on their way to earn a college degree from the university.

“We’ll be seeing students from migrant and seasonal farm worker backgrounds coming to OSU in the next five years who otherwise might not have gone to college at all,” Aduviri said. “OSU is a land grant university. Because of that, we’re positioned in a way to reach out to students across the state.”  

OSU CAMP will serve 30 students its first and second years, and 35 each year thereafter, with a total of 165 served altogether.

For more information on CAMP, call 541-737-2389 or see http://oregonstate.edu/dept/camp/.

Source: 

Amas Aduviri, 541-737-3923

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