View full sizeOregon State University's branch Cascades campus in Bend is 11 years old.A Eugene-based family foundation has pledged $1 million to help expand
into a four-year university, OSU president Ed Ray announced Wednesday afternoon.
The Tykeson Family Charitable Trust, created by the family that owns
, wants to help Oregon State University - Cascades, which now offers only junior- and senior-level courses, become a full-fledged university.
The gift will be used toward the purchase, renovation or construction of facilities as the state's first branch university expands. OSU - Cascades leaders want to situate the campus in Bend's Old Mill District.
"There are many factors that make for a successful community ... Access to higher education is on the short list," Amy Tykeson, president of BendBroadband and a trustee of the foundation, said in a statement released by OSU.
Currently, OSU students who want to take freshman- and sophomore-level classes in Bend do so at Central Oregon Community College. About 1,000 students attend OSU - Cascades, about 800 of whom take upper-division classes and about 200 of whom are taking the prerequisite classes at COCC.
-- Betsy Hammond