After more than 45 years on campus, the UO’s High School Equivalency program shut down at the end of September due to federal budget cuts, leaving behind a legacy of helping migrant farm workers earn high school diplomas.

The long history of the program and what it meant to the community is chronicled in an article now available on the College of Education webpage. It tells the story of how the program was founded and the work it did to help migrant workers get a GED.

Known as HEP, the program created a small community for eager learners and achieved a surprising 80 percent graduation rate, compressing a high school education into a 10-week program. It provided many workers their first introduction to computers, provided many with dorm rooms and helped them become part of the local community.

Although the program is closed for now, the College of Education is looking into ways to re-establish HEP under a different model. In the meantime, Lane Community College continues to offer Spanish-language GED classes.