Outdoor School funding updates for 2025-2027

New Outdoor School Statewide Funding Distribution Project

Following the 20% reduction to statewide outdoor school funding in the summer of 2025, OSU Extension Outdoor School Program took steps to operate within a reduced budget. We reduced staff centrally, restructured the organization and delivered a Community Engagement Project to inform our 2025-2026 funding strategies. Learn more about the Community Engagement Project.

We are now continuing this effort through the Outdoor School Statewide Funding Distribution Project. This project is focused on developing a community-informed strategy for implementing outdoor school statewide within the annual budget every year going forward, including in the 2026-2027 budget. This project will integrate and build upon the Community Engagement Project conducted last summer.

Learn more about the Outdoor School Statewide Funding Distribution Project

This video provides an overview of Outdoor School funding challenges and the launch of the Outdoor School Statewide Funding Distribution Project.

Learn why rising costs require a shift away from past funding models and how last year’s temporary approach helped stabilize the 2025–2026 school year. Finally, we invite stakeholders to participate in focus groups, work groups, and surveys to help shape a more sustainable and equitable funding system for future years.

Watch the project launch video

Project milestones and timeline

Credit: Crystal Nichols

Statewide Funding Distribution Project Survey

As part of the Statewide Funding Distribution Project, we have created a survey that will be open until Friday, March 13. We updated the survey with questions based on insights from the first round of community engagement as of March 1.

This survey is for you if:

You cannot make it to a focus group and want to inform funding distribution decisions, or
You attend a focus group and have more you would like to share afterwards.

Complete the survey

Opportunities to engage

Mar 27

Work session 2: Statewide Funding Distribution Project

12:00 pm - 4:00 pm PDT Online

Share your outdoor school stories

OSU Extension Outdoor School and our partner, Friends of Outdoor School, are dedicated to bringing outdoor education to Oregon’s students, and your stories showcase the powerful impact outdoor school has. We invite you to share your story through writing, video, or another format, so together we can capture the transformative stories of outdoor school, demonstrate the impacts of the funding reduction, and build support for restoring funding.

Share your story

Credit: Crystal Nichols (Cropped from original)