In 2012 Oregon voters were convinced to pass Measure 85 and divert the corporate kicker revenue into a fund for K-12 public schools instead of rebating the money to companies. When passed the corporate refunds typically averaged about $120 million every two years. In 2019 the corporate kicker sent $616 million and in 2021 it sent $420 million to K-12 schools. The corporate activity tax, which funds the Student Success Act, added about $2.3 billion for 2021-23 school budget. This translates into about $800 million in direct grants to school districts.

Despite Oregon’s windfall of cash rolling into schools, high school graduation rate is still one of the lowest in the nation, and colleges and universities have suffered a steady decline in enrollment. According to Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) reported last year that Oregon ranks 34th in the nation in its investment into higher education. Now colleges and universities are crying what about us?

Sen. Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego), state Senate majority leader, said regarding the forecast, “Oregon’s economy is still strong. Oregon Senate Democrats’ investments in housing, education and child care are showing results.” Not according to The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), a private nonprofit hired at the suggestion of Oregon Governor Kate Brown asking Oregon Community College Association and the Oregon Council of Presidents to undergo a comprehensive study in order to get recommendations for financial stability on how to strengthen the higher education system in the state. The report details options for a pathway in the September 23, 2022, Oregon Higher Education Landscape Study. It boils down to more taxpayer dollars are needed.

NCHEMS’ report begins with a list of demands on the state that will “increase demands on taxpayers in a state where the per capita income is below the national average, where income taxes are the primary source of state revenues, and where there is little appetite for increasing tax rates to pay for needed service.”

NCHEMS’ report ultimately suggests the way to succeed is to increase the number of workers and high-paying jobs. It claims that Oregon lacks in qualified workers, so it points to students needing more affordable access to college, and the state’s taxpayers need to shell out more money to support higher education.

The report suggests that tuition revenues alone will not pay for the investments needed to create a work force. Projections indicate fewer traditional college-age students in the years to come, and recruiting out-of-state students are also discouraging with the number of high school graduates in neighboring states projected to decrease substantially.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Portland Community College has proposed their own Measure 26-224 requesting voters to approve a $485 million to cover a decrease of 28,000 students in the past five years, and provide more on-line classes.

Oregon colleges have two main paths to grow enrollment: improve high school graduation rates and more successfully funnel those graduates into Oregon colleges, and increase college participation for older adults.

NCHEMS states that the number of younger adults in Oregon, ages 25-34, with a postsecondary degree is well below the national average. The rate at which high school graduates go directly onto college is also among the lowest in the country meaning those entering the workforce are less well educated.

In 2020 Oregon institutions outpaced the national tuition revenue by over $800 per student. State funding has increased by more than 40% in the last 10 years, public funding exceeded the national average by 22 percent. The student’s share spiked over 50 percent overall in 2020. According to HECC data, in the 2020-21 school year, Oregon had the highest average tuition for residents at four-year institutions out of all western states. “There is an argument for ensuring that tuition rates for in-state students are stabilized or reduced and the state backfill any lost revenues to the institutions.”

Many of the points made in the NCHEMS report have been laid out by the HECC in a presentation on postsecondary education and workforce training to the legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education in April 2021. HECC submitted its requested budget for the 2023-25 biennium that includes a funding increase for higher education of more than 35% or roughly $1.4 billion more than the current budget. The requested budget makes public colleges and universities sustainable, requested funding for capital projects, money for financial aid program such as continuing the new Oregon Tribal Student Grant and increasing funding such programs as the Oregon Opportunity Grant and Oregon Promise.

NCHEMS said Oregon higher education institutions can’t rely solely on more state funding to solve its problems. Oregon must work to improve their retention and graduation rates helping students already enrolled needing assistance to make it to graduation. Oregon institutions should encourage enrollment of students who chose work instead of college when they leave high school. There is a need to work with public schools to improve their graduation rates in order to funnel those additional students into higher education.

Oregon legislature passed a requirement for colleges and universities to collaborate to unify courses and develop joint programs making transfers seamless. Even so, little has been done according to the NCHEMS report. The report recommends collaboration would advance student access to programs with cost efficiencies, and cooperation with K-12 school districts would strengthen pathways into higher education for overall educational achievement in Oregon, and “rebalancing the funding responsibilities for higher education in the state so that the students pay a smaller share and the state a larger share.”

NCHEMS concludes that increased investment in higher education could help the state in a number of ways, most importantly funneling more tax-paying residents into high-wage jobs in a state that relies heavily on income tax to support higher education. However, the vision must be advanced from leadership and stakeholders and not perceived as being a vision for higher education.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-11-03 10:33:11

Last Update: 2022-11-03 11:36:15