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Committee hears pitch for statewide re‑enrollment program to reach 800,000 Oregonians with some college and no credential
Summary
A private vendor, ReUp Education, told the House Higher Education committee that a statewide, data‑driven outreach campaign could reengage adults who stopped out of college. The vendor proposed a $2 million to $4 million scalable investment and described higher persistence and completion measures in partner programs.
Scott Lomas, chief strategy officer at ReUp Education, told the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development on April 3 that Oregon could re‑enroll tens of thousands of adults who have some college credit but no credential by standing up a coordinated, statewide outreach and coaching effort.
Lede: ReUp presented House Bill 2686, describing a model that combines targeted data analytics, purpose‑trained coaches and a learning platform to contact “students with some college and no credential” and support them through reenrollment. Lomas said the organization already works in dozens of states and can begin outreach within three to six months of a contract.
Nut graf: The committee focused on program design, program scope and oversight rather than concept. Members raised questions about program knowledge of institutional degree requirements, the types of programs targeted, coaching qualifications, and how a one‑time investment would be sustained. The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HEC) staff said HEC currently lacks the data analytics and coaching capacity ReUp described and that contracting could be faster than building an in‑house program.
ReUp stressed two points in testimony. First, coordinated statewide approaches are more effective and lower cost per student than decentralized efforts that place burden on individual institutions. Lomas said some states with systemwide initiatives reenroll thousands of adults annually and that ReUp’s model can scale quickly because it uses nationally developed technology and patented interventions paired with human coaches. "The students with some college and no credential have been left behind," Lomas said, arguing for persistent outreach and navigation support rather than short enrollment cycles.
Committee members pressed on operational details. Representative Finger McDonald described common advising failures she’d seen when students transfer credits across institutions and asked how ReUp would ensure quality, program‑level advising; Lomas replied that ReUp inventories programs statewide and helps students navigate holds and institutional processes but does not replace program‑level academic advising. Representative Bridal asked about cost and sustainability; Lomas outlined a scalable funding model and said a $2 million initial pilot could cover a subset of institutions, $2 million–$4 million could cover the state in year two, and ReUp typically shows tuition revenue returns that outpace the state investment.
The committee also heard from Kyle Thomas, HEC Director of Legislative Policy Affairs, who said HEC could operate a similar program but would need time and investment to build analytics and coaching capacity. Thomas cautioned that contracting requires careful sideboards to ensure oversight of outreach activities. No formal action or vote was taken on the bill during the hearing.
Ending: Committee members signaled interest in program details and oversight; several asked for more fiscal specifics and for comparisons between in‑house versus contracted models before considering appropriation or recommendation.
