Strategic Plan and Roadmap

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) envisions a future in which all Oregonians—and especially those whom our systems have underserved and marginalized—benefit from the transformational power of high-quality postsecondary education and training. Our strategic planning documents, including the Strategic Roadmap and Strategic Framework, chart a path forward for the agency and Commission to achieve our mission, vision, and goals.

One of the key responsibilities of the HECC, established by statute, is to adopt a strategic plan to achieve state postsecondary and training goals. The HECC currently has two active strategic planning documents: the Strategic Roadmap and the Strategic Framework. Our strategic planning is anchored by our application of the Equity Lens, and is aimed at advancing Oregon toward state educational attainment goals. We apply these planning documents to guide development and implementation of funding and policy proposals that impact Oregonians statewide. We encourage our partners to read the strategic planning documents here and to join us in our work to serve all Oregonians.

Strategic Plan Update in Progress

In fall 2023, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission launched a public process to update its Strategic Plan. These planning discussions are held at public meetings, and public comment is welcomed. When complete, the updated Strategic Plan will build upon and replace the current strategic planning documents described on this page.

Strategic Planning Survey 2024 

The perspectives of partners are essential as HECC works to create a strategic plan to support a postsecondary education and training system that will benefit all of Oregon. Thank you to all who participated in our strategic planning survey. The survey has now closed.  

Oregon’s Strategic Roadmap for Oregon Postsecondary Education and Training, finalized in 2021, was informed by the input of more than 1,500 individuals over the course of two years. The Roadmap sets an ambitious path forward by describing how postsecondary education systems, policies, and practices need to change in order to achieve Oregon’s goals for educational attainment and equity.  The Roadmap is intended to guide not only HECC initiatives, but also those initiatives of Oregon’s postsecondary education and training partners statewide. This has implications for public and private colleges and universities, the Legislature and Governor, and education and workforce development partners, as well as faculty, students, and staff.

The Roadmap includes a preamble calling for fundamental change in postsecondary education and training. It defines the following five categories for strategic action as major areas of focus for the HECC, the Legislature, and other partners.

• Transform and innovate to serve students and learners best
• Center higher education and workforce training capacity on current and future state needs
• Ensure that postsecondary learners can afford to meet their basic needs
• Create and support a continuum of  pathways from education and training to career
• Increase public investment to meet Oregon’s postsecondary goals

Strategic Framework: Defining Agency Action Areas

When the Commission adopted the Strategic Roadmap in 2021, it reinforced the priorities in the
HECC’s 2017 Strategic Framework. This document describes the Commission’s vision statement, mission, values and beliefs, and defines strategic activities within the authority of the HECC Commission and agency.

HECC Vision Statement

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) envisions a future in which all Oregonians —and especially those whom our systems have underserved and marginalized—benefit from the transformational power of high-quality postsecondary education and training. It is a future where innovative public and private colleges, universities, and training providers help Oregonians to reach their highest potentials, build trajectories to family-wage careers, foster a more just society, and break patterns of intergenerational poverty.  It is a future where postsecondary education fuels a resilient economy by anticipating workforce needs and by fostering innovation, research, and knowledge. In the future we envision, all Oregonians enjoy well-lived lives thanks to the myriad benefits of postsecondary education and training: higher earnings, lower unemployment rates, self-sufficiency, civic involvement, better health, and more. Our communities thrive as a result.

Areas of Activity

The Strategic Framework defines four key areas of activity that organize our strategic work for Oregonians.

• Reporting to Steer Progress:  Through advanced data analysis, evaluation, and reporting, the HECC will build public and institutional commitment to meeting achievement goals and closing equity gaps.
• Funding for Success:  The HECC will develop an approach to state funding for higher education and workforce that is directly linked to student success.
• Streamlining Learner Pathways: The HECC will promote clear on-ramps to education and training, reduce barriers for transfer students, and link graduates with careers.
• Expanding Opportunity through Outreach:  The HECC will develop a comprehensive outreach plan to ensure all Oregonians have access to affordable, relevant options for postsecondary training.

The areas of activity in the Framework are aimed to achieved four Strategic Goals:

• Student Success 
• Equity
• Affordability
  
• Economic and Community Impact
  

We measure progress toward these goals through our Key Performance Measures.