HECC details investments in Oregon colleges, workforce partners and warns Future Ready Oregon grants will sunset

For the record, Ben Cannon, executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, told the Education side committee on April 7 that the agency’s work centers on coordinating funding and data across Oregon’s public and private postsecondary landscape while noting limits to its governance authority.

The presentation walked the committee through three institutional sectors—local workforce boards, the 17 community colleges and the seven public universities—plus the private postsecondary sector. Cannon said HECC is “a coordinating board, not a governing board,” and described how the commission distributes state appropriations to institutions by formula and collects data the agency uses to drive policy and funding allocations.

The briefing included a status update on Future Ready Oregon, the 2022 legislative investment in workforce education and training. Julia (Giulia) Pontoni, director of the HECC Office of Workforce Investments, told the committee that Future Ready Oregon is a roughly $200 million package that the legislature charged the agency with administering. “Most of the HEC workforce funding is federal with all of the one-time Future Ready Oregon funding for this biennium coming from the American Rescue Plan Act,” Pontoni said. She said the HECC has obligated all Future Ready Oregon funds through grants and strategic initiatives that are designed to expand training and employment pathways, and the grant programs will sunset in 2026.

Pontoni summarized early results from the Future Ready portfolio, saying that through June 2024 the initiative had provided more than 4,500 services to more than 1,400 Oregonians and that participants recorded wage increases and employment gains. She said roughly 25% of Future Ready Oregon investments went to community-based organizations, another 25% to the state’s nine local workforce development boards, approximately 20% to community colleges and about 10% to public universities.

Pontoni also described the HECC’s federal and state workforce funding streams: the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds channeled through local workforce boards, and several state-funded youth workforce grants the agency manages, including Oregon Youth Corps (OYC) and the Oregon Youth Employment Program (OYAP). She reported that the agencies administering these programs recorded thousands of youth participants, with most counties and Oregon’s federally recognized tribes hosting OYC programs.

Donna Lewelling, director of HECC’s Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, reviewed community college enrollment and outcomes. Lewelling noted that community colleges are “open access, meaning we serve all Oregonians who desire to access our programs,” and presented measures showing the system served roughly 69,000 full‑time‑equivalent contact hours in 2023–24 while reaching many part‑time and working adult learners. She said completion metrics show about 51% of new community college students completed a certificate, degree or transfer within four years, and that many students attend part time — a factor that affects time to completion.

Veronica Dujon, director for academic policy and authorization, summarized public university enrollments and outcomes. She said Oregon public universities enrolled a little more than 122,000 students in 2023–24 and that two‑thirds of those were undergraduate resident admits. Dujon noted persistent completion gaps by race, ethnicity and first‑generation status, and she pointed to affordability concerns: roughly half of students reported being unable to meet expenses even when all available resources were counted, and grant aid has not kept pace with rising costs.

The presenters also described HECC’s role overseeing private postsecondary providers. Dujon explained that HECC licenses 81 private career schools (nondegree programs) and authorizes degree‑granting private institutions when required; a separate set of roughly 20 private institutions are statutorily exempt from HECC authorization because of religious or long‑standing accreditation status. The agency’s licensing units are funded by fees paid by the regulated schools.

Committee members pressed staff on two budget and policy points: whether Future Ready Oregon investments will continue beyond grant sunset dates, and how workforce‑education investments align with employer needs. Cannon and Pontoni said most Future Ready Oregon dollars were one‑time (a mix of ARPA and one‑time state general fund) and that there is no expectation of continued federal ARPA funding; only small portions of the programs are funded in current service levels or the governor’s recommended budget. On alignment with employers, Cannon and other presenters pointed to programmatic mechanisms—licensing and professional boards, programmatic accreditors and local employer advisory boards—that connect training programs to workforce needs.

Several legislators also raised concerns about teacher preparation and quality assurance. The presenters said programmatic and licensure bodies (for example, the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission for licensure and NWCCU for accreditation) and institutional governing boards are the primary mechanisms for quality assurance of instructor qualifications in public colleges and universities; by law, community colleges and universities set instructor qualifications locally, while HECC has narrower regulatory authority over private career schools.

The informational hearing is part of HECC’s multi‑day budget presentations; staff told the committee the next session will focus more narrowly on proposed budget allocations to workforce boards, community colleges and public universities.

Ending: HECC staff and committee members agreed to follow up with additional materials on specific data points, and staff warned that Future Ready Oregon grant funding is scheduled to sunset in 2026 unless the Legislature or the administration provides further state funding.