PORTLAND (AP) — The University of Oregon will provide almost $340,000 to help students who recently learned their Oregon Opportunity Grant funding will be cut for the remainder of the academic year.

The state, which has already stopped awarding new grants, recently announced it would reduce awards for tens of thousands of students who received them in the fall. Full-time students will see their grants cut by $80; part-time student face a $40 reduction.

The grants are awarded based on financial need, and the state requires students to pay a share of college costs through work, loans or other means.

The University of Oregon will use money from donations to offset the cuts for 2,900 of its students.

“We feel this is the most responsible action to take for our students,” said Jim Bean, UO senior vice president and provost. “We’re appreciative of our generous donors who made this possible.”

Some other universities, including Western Oregon University and Oregon State University, also are helping bridge the state shortfall that would otherwise be hitting their students.

Dave McDonald, associate provost at Western Oregon, said the action will cost the university about $150,000 from its reserves. “Since Oregon Opportunity students have the highest financial need, we felt it was our moral obligation to step up and take care of them,” he said.

But others, particularly community colleges, lack the money to take that step. Statewide, more than 30,000 college students who receive an Oregon Opportunity Grant will get less money from the state than they were told to expect last year.

The cuts to the grant program are part of the statewide reductions ordered by Gov. Ted Kulongoski because of the deepening recession and its effect on income tax revenue, said Dennis Johnson, executive director of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission.