The Oregon State University alumni magazine - a regular news publication that provides information on campus events, research and teaching, and athletics, as well as news of the activities and lives of Oregon State alumni - was launched in October 1915 with the first issue of the OAC Alumnus. In the decades since, the magazine has been published under several titles: OAC Alumnus from 1915 to 1929; Oregon State Monthly from April 1929 through 1937; and Oregon Stater beginning in 1940.

From its inception, the magazine has been published at least several times per year. For a period, it was issued monthly during the academic year (10 issues per year), and from 1972 through the September 1999 issue, the Oregon Stater was published 4-6 times per year as a tabloid-style newsprint publication. Beginning with the December 1999 Oregon Stater, the magazine has been published 3-4 times per year as a 4-color magazine.