Future Ready Oregon Update: Legislative Session and Year One Report Highlight

Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission sent this bulletin at 02/10/2023 04:12 PM PST

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FUTURE READY OREGON UPDATE

February 10, 2023

Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission

Contact: FutureReadyOregon@hecc.oregon.gov

Future Ready Oregon Legislative Update

The 2023 Legislative Session is in full swing, and we encourage our partners to stay updated on our recent presentations and testimony on our Legislative Resources 2023 web page here. The HECC commenced our participation in the Legislative Session with two high-level overviews to the higher education workforce system, presented January 17 to the House Committee on Higher Education and previously to the Senate Committee on Education, by Executive Director Ben Cannon. These presentations focused on the HECC's strategic priorities and state goals for educational attainment and equity, concerning racial disparities in educational outcomes, the governance and leadership structure in the system, and more.

On January 25, Jennifer Purcell, director of Future Ready Oregon for the HECC, presented on the status of this historic investment to the Joint Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Education, a presentation made in partnership with several Future Ready Oregon partners. We look forward to presenting again to this subcommittee this session on the Governor's recommendations for the state's comprehensive higher education and workforce training budget. Director Purcell also presented on Future Ready Oregon to the House Higher Education Committee on January 31.

Future Ready Oregon Year One Report Highlight

Future Ready Oregon Investment in Postsecondary Career Pathways.

For the next several weeks, we will highlight different sections and programs within the Future Ready Oregon Year One Report. This week we will be looking at the Future Ready Oregon Investment in Postsecondary Career Pathways.

SB 1545 (2022) allocated $14.9 million to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) to administer the Future Ready Oregon investment in Postsecondary Career Pathways. Most of these funds ($14.2 million) delivered financial support to community colleges to expand their Career Pathways programs and provide direct support to Career Pathways students.

Oregon Career Pathways are programs that link education and training with intentional student support to enable individuals to secure credentials and advance over time to higher levels of education and employment in an occupation or industry sector. Career Pathways facilitate student transition from high school to community college; from pre-college courses to for-credit postsecondary programs; and from community college to university or employment.

The Future Ready Oregon investment in Postsecondary Career Pathways provides direct and indirect support for students to successfully complete their program, earn a credential recognized by a targeted industry sector, and obtain employment with an income that meets the self-sufficiency standard for the county in which the community college resides.

HECC’s Office of Community College and Workforce Development (CCWD) administers the Future Ready Oregon investment in Postsecondary Career Pathways. In May 2022, CCWD notified colleges of their award. Each college was awarded a different total amount. The funding formula was based on three different factors:

All colleges received a base of $300,000.
All colleges received additional funding based on the number of Fulltime Equivalent Students (FTES) served by the college.
Smaller colleges with less 5,000 FTES were provided additional funding due to less tuition revenue they receive despite having similar administrative costs as larger colleges.

During year one, colleges reported using the funding to expand existing Career Pathways programs, develop targeted outreach efforts to priority populations, build or expand curriculum in targeted industries, and upgrade technology and equipment in Career Pathways CTE programs. Some colleges are using the funds to expand capacity for CTE programs that serve Career Pathways and other students. Finally, some colleges are strengthening their efforts to recruit and support participants and collaborating with CBOs, workforce agencies and other partners to maximize enrollment and support to students in postsecondary career pathway training programs.

A full list and description of the Future Ready Oregon Investment in Postsecondary Career Pathways activities can be found here
For more information about the early implementation of Future Ready Oregon Investment in Postsecondary Career Pathways please visit the Future Ready Oregon Year One Report

The HECC has awarded $10 million in grants supporting 42 projects that prioritize underserved and marginalized communities

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) announced in a recent press release that it has awarded $10 million in the first round of Future Ready Oregon Workforce Ready Grants to 42 projects focused on encouraging innovation and removing barriers to job training and education for historically underserved and marginalized populations.

A complete list and description of the Workforce Ready Grants Round One: Capacity Building grant-funded projects can be found here
The second round of funding will be available in February 2023. Sign up to receive updates by email here.

Learn more on our website:

www.oregon.gov/highered/future-ready

Stay Connected with the State of Oregon, Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC)

Frequent contacts | info.HECC@hecc.oregon.gov | www.oregon.gov/highered

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