Thank you to everyone who is helping to get the message out to students to complete the FAFSA or the Oregon Student Aid Application (ORSAA) and to take advantage of support from the HECC Office of Student Access and Completion and partners. Please continue to support FAFSA completion by students and ensure they are able to apply for considerable need-based aid that is at their fingertips. 

In March, we shared a statewide survey asking for input on our strategic planning priorities. I want to sincerely thank the hundreds of partners who shared their insight to inform the direction we take; we are happy to share the findings of that input in our newsletter today. Affordability continues to be the highest concern among our partners in higher education and training today.  Similarly, the recent SHEF report, the national report that shows our funding progress against other states, sheds light on some of the challenges behind college affordability in Oregon, including underfunding of our financial aid programs, tuition increases, and state funding levels that are well below the national average. Improving affordability will continue to be a major focus at the HECC. 

Thank you to all the college, university, workforce, student, and community leaders who presented at our May Funding and Achievement subcommittee meeting about the budget needs in higher education and workforce training. For the last several months, staff have been working within the agency to develop budget and policy recommendations to the Governor’s Office for consideration in the Governor’s Recommended Budget (GRB) and for introduction as legislation in the 2025 session commencing in January.  Input from our partners is essential.  The Commission is expected to further consider recommendations in June and to vote on final recommendations on the Agency Request Budget (ARB) in August. 

Finally, the recent Talent Summit brough together hundreds for two days of high energy, insight, and most importantly, industry opportunity. We hope that our postsecondary education and training partners look closely at the recent Talent Assessment findings which shed light on critical industry needs. 

As always, partner input and engagement are essential to our work. Thanks to all for the collaboration for Oregon learners. 

In a recent press release, Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) and the Workforce and Talent Development Board (WTDB) presented the Oregon Talent Assessment 2024. To achieve equitable prosperity for all Oregonians and drive economic development by equipping Oregon’s businesses and communities with the talent they need for success, the HECC and WTDB collaborated with SRI to develop the Assessment. The 2024 Talent Assessment, released and presented at the Oregon Talent Summit in Salem on May 14-15, presents analysis and findings on Oregon’s economic and workforce landscape; skills supply and demand for target occupations; and the competitive position of Oregon’s talent pool and workforce development system.    

Oregon has largely recovered from cyclical labor market challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and has experienced significant growth in increasingly technology-intensive industries that offer opportunities for upward mobility. 

The 2024 Oregon Talent Summit brought together over 400 participants from business, workforce, community-based organizations, education, labor, economic development, and state leaders on critical issues related to workforce, talent, and skill needs in Oregon. In addition to the Assessment, the two-day event featured three esteemed keynotes speakers among more than 20 topic-specific presentations aimed to strengthen alignment and partnership in workforce and education communities, and to share insights on economic development needs in the state.  

To be eligible for most types of financial aid, students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Oregon Student Aid Application (ORSAA).  Please continue to support students in completing the FAFSA or ORSAA—it’s not too late for students to complete these forms and pursue their college goals at Oregon public and private colleges and universities.  With the late roll-out and challenges introduced by the new federal form, the number of FAFSAs completed in Oregon in our latest numbers were 12 percent lower than last year at this time.   

Completing the FAFSA or ORSAA is always important, but there are especially good reasons this year for students and families to complete their applications.  We project that considerably more Oregon students qualify for the maximum Pell Grant and, if they attend an eligible Oregon school, for the maximum Oregon Opportunity Grant. Thanks to the federal aid available through Pell and recent state investments by the Oregon Legislature, these grants combined now cover up to approximately $15,000 of college costs for the lowest-income students attending a four-year university and more than $11,000 for the lowest-income students attending community college.  

Important Tips: Please remind students and their parents to not just start but to complete their FAFSA or ORSAA. For the FAFSA, this means making sure it is completed, signed, and submitted by all contributors.  In addition, the Federal Student Aid office recently announced changes to streamline the application process for students who have contributors without a social security number. Resources on financial aid form completion can be found at the links below. 

Strategic Planning Advances with Insights from Public Survey and Engagement 

Many thanks to all partners from across the state who have shared their valuable perspectives with us to inform the development of a new strategic plan for Oregon higher education and workforce training. At its May public meeting, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) reviewed and discussed the results of a wide array of public input summarized in an Insight Report by Coraggio Group, the firm that is facilitating the planning process.    

The Insight Report summarizes public input collected from January through April of this year, including 408 responses to a statewide survey and five focus group sessions. Through this process, partners gave their perspectives on the HECC’s vision, mission, organizational attributes, top priorities and challenges, and the inherent tradeoffs the HECC faces as it works to improve outcomes within Oregon’s higher education and training landscape. Key themes that arose include the following.  

• Affordability is the top issue facing higher education in Oregon.​  
• There is a desire to balance a focus on uplifting Oregon’s most vulnerable, marginalized students with broader goals such as 40-40-20. ​   
• In supporting learner pathways, it is critical to understand and address points where students leave the educational system. ​   
• Ensuring a strong Oregon economy in the future through robust workforce linkages should be reemphasized as a key goal for the HECC and its work. ​  
• There are divergent views on competition among institutions and HECC's role.   
• There is an opportunity to better define the coordinating role of the HECC in relation to institutions and the overall higher education landscape.​  
• There is a desire to define and strengthen the Commission’s role in advocacy and ultimately secure more funding for higher education in Oregon.  

Participants also gave input on the HECC's vision statement and mission, which was incorporated into a new draft under consideration. After receiving the summary of the report, the Commission and agency directors convened for a strategic clarity retreat as part of the May 9 public HECC meeting to explore next steps for goal- and strategy-setting. Read more about this process in the Commission materials here. 

The HECC has submitted a revised request to the Oregon Legislature related to financial sustainability funding for five public universities.  For the 2023-25 biennium, the Legislature appropriated a $25 million, one-time fund aimed at supporting financial sustainability at the technical regional universities (TRUs)—Oregon Tech, Eastern Oregon University, Southern Oregon University, and Western Oregon University)—and Portland State University.    

The legislation (House Bill 5025, 2023) allowed the HECC to distribute a portion of the funding for promising innovative efforts, with the remaining $18.7 million requiring legislative approval. This request is intended to assist the five universities to help collaborate with their campus communities on strategic sustainability planning for a future that may look different than the past, and provide one-time funding for targeted activities that may arise from this planning (for example, changes in offerings, cost savings,  or leveraging resources).  The resources are intended to help the universities adapt to changes in the populations they serve and to support long-term financial sustainability while protecting access and affordability.   

The revised request emphasizes that HECC staff will rigorously evaluate university-proposed projects. HECC criteria will be designed to ensure that proposals: (a) are aligned with an existing or emerging institution-wide plan for strategic transformation for sustainability; (b) demonstrate a high likelihood of reducing budget gaps using one-time revenues; (c) reflect ongoing collaboration with the campus community; and (d) are aligned with Oregon’s higher education goals.  

Additionally, projects must fit into one or more of three categories: 1) strategic cost cutting, 2) growing revenue, or 3) collaborative activities. The institutions will be eligible for $2.3 million for each TRU, $7 million for PSU, and $2.5 million set aside for collaborative projects. The Legislature will consider the request on May 31.  

The application is open for the Oregon Tribal Student Grant (OTSG) for the upcoming academic year, and we encourage members of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon to apply! The OTSB, first launched in 2022 and codified in statute in 2023, bolsters the opportunity for tribal members to achieve their postsecondary education goals, whether they have just graduated from high school, or are adults wanting to start or return to college.

The HECC has seen growing participation in the OTSG in its first two years. The HECC Office of Student Access and Completion (OSAC) awarded 501 OTSG recipients for 2023-24, compared to 412 students for the 2022-2023 academic year (the pilot year). The OTSG to date has served students pursuing all levels of postsecondary education, including certificates, associate degrees, bachelors, masters, PHDs, MDs and JDs. The current 2024-2025 application will remain open until April 2025, as long as funds are available. 

To be eligible for the program students must be an enrolled member of one of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon: 

• Burns Paiute Tribe 
• Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians 
• Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde 
• Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians 
• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation 
• Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs 
• Coquille Indian Tribe 
• Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians 
• Klamath Tribes 

Students must also be enrolled or accepted for enrollment at an Oregon college or university and complete a valid FAFSA or ORSAA for the 2024-2025 academic year. Additional eligibility information can be found on the Oregon Tribal Student Grant web page. 

May is Mental Health Month, and mental health support is critically important for higher education students just as it is in our communities at large. Data shows that nearly 60 percent of college students meet criteria for one or more mental health problems.* With the support of a national grant, Oregon partners are working on strategies to address inadequate campus support for student mental health in our state, such as student isolation and difficulty accessing care, as well as long wait times, understaffing, and underfunding. These barriers to care disproportionately impact students of color and underserved or marginalized students (for example, LGBTQIA+, disabled, low-income, and others). 

In 2023, Oregon was selected as one of five state teams to receive a $25,000 planning grant to participate in the inaugural Student Mental Health and Wellness Learning Community. The grant was awarded to the University of Oregon by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) and the JED Foundation, and numerous partners are collaborating on the work. 

Bringing together multiple partners across the state—including HECC, colleges and universities, Oregon Campuses United for Suicide Prevention, Oregon Health Authority, and the Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide—this team aims to improve campus supports for student mental health, with a key focus on underserved students. A priority objective of this project is to develop and implement state- and system-wide policy recommendations for mental health. These recommendations will be focused on collaborative strategies and innovative solutions to bolster institutions' ability to effectively promote and support student mental health. If you have questions on the initiative, contact Veronica Dujon, HECC director of the Office of Academic Policy and Authorization, at veronica.dujon@hecc.oregon.gov.  

* Lipson, S. K., et al., Journal of Affective Disorders, Vol. 306, 2022 

We are pleased to share that the Oregon Youth Works Advisory Board will be convening for the first time on July 9, 2024. This public advisory board provides advice on and oversees the implementation and alignment of youth workforce programs within the HECC. This is a Governor-appointed board that is comprised of 7-12 members with specific representation criteria set forth in statute. 

Oregon Youth Works currently includes five workforce development grant programs that support paid work experiences for thousands of youth statewide. These programs support local organizations that provide paid work, workforce training, career exposure, academic support, and essential employability skills for youth ages 13-26, They include: 

• Oregon Conservation Corps 
• Oregon Youth Corps 
• Oregon Youth Employment Program 
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Youth Employment Program 
• Oregon WIOA Youth Programs 

The Oregon Youth Works Advisory Board was established by House Bill 3563 (2023) and is convened by the HECC Office of Workforce Investments. You can find details on the Board here, including public meeting information, and you can sign up for public meeting notices here.  If you are interested in applying for a board position, please send an email to douglas.denning@hecc.oregon.gov. 

At its May Commission meeting, the HECC approved the following new academic programs at Oregon's colleges and universities. Read more about these programs in the  May 9 meeting materials here. 

Community College New Programs: 

• Central Oregon Community College: Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair One-Year Certificate of Completion; Construction Trades and Apprenticeship Readiness Certificate of Completion​; Foundations of Licensure in Education Certificate of Completion 
• Mt. Hood  Community College Machine Tool Technology AAS ​