Postsecondary Finance and Capital

Development of a long-term strategic funding model to meet state goals: HECC staff has convened a workgroup that includes external partners (institutional and community leaders) for the purpose of advising staff on the development of a long-term strategic funding model. This work has focused on identifying the gaps between current attainment and our goals; and determining the overall cost of closing those gaps. Future work will focus on refining the cost model and developing a proposed budget structure to optimize future state investments.

Development of a 10-year university capital plan for state investment​:  The Higher Education Coordinating Commission in 2019 completed a10-year strategic capital plan for public universities, in partnership with the public universities and an external expert in educational strategic capital planning. This project has provided a target public university capital portfolio through 2029 and will be used to guide Commission in prioritization of capital projects and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature on the critically important need for strategically driven capital investments for years to come. ​

Review of the Student Success and Completion Model: ​ In 2019-2020, HECC approved refinements to the formula described here that create further incentives for universities to improve degree ​outcomes and equity for Oregon students. The SSCM model shifted the formula for distribution of the majority of state funding for Oregon’s seven public universities from a longstanding model based on enrollment alone, to a model that weighed not just enrollment but also resident student graduation and other factors, to promote progress toward Oregon’s educational attainment goals.  When this model was adopted in 2015, the HECC committed to reviewing it at its five-year mark in 2020.