Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceding agencies | |
| Type | Educational Policy |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Oregon's Chief Education Office |
| Website | www |
The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission is a volunteer state board established in 2011 in the U.S. state of Oregon, with responsibilities for advising the governor, the legislature and the Chief Education Office on statewide postsecondary education policies and funding. The fourteen-member commission has authorities for "development of biennial budget recommendations for public postsecondary education in Oregon, making funding allocations to Oregon's public community colleges and public universities, approving new academic programs for the public institutions, allocating Oregon Opportunity Grants (state need-based student aid), authorizing degrees that are proposed by private and out-of-state (distance) providers, licensing private career and trade schools, overseeing programs for veterans, and additional legislative directives".
Prior to 2012, multiple state agencies and offices had provided statutory regulation and authorization of colleges and universities in Oregon, including the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Oregon University System, the State Board of Higher Education, the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, and the Oregon legislature. With the passage of SB 242 in 2011, the legislature created the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) to coordinate between community colleges and state universities, but its role, funding, and staffing remained unclear until the 2013 legislative session.
Two pieces of legislation in 2013, SB 270 and HB 3120, provided an extensive overhaul and reconfiguration of educational committees, commissions, boards, and agencies in Oregon. SB 270 provided for independent boards for universities that had previously been governed by the State Board of Education, and HB 3120 reconfigured the HECC, vesting it with additional state policy and budgetary authority for higher education in Oregon. One observer noted that Oregon postsecondary education had seen "more policy changes in the last few years than it has in the past 50".
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