An released Monday from the Oregon Secretary of State鈥檚 Office calls for more attention and support for the state鈥檚 17 community colleges.
The audit of Oregon鈥檚 Higher Education Coordinating Commission, or HECC, found that although state leaders and the colleges have made key improvements, there鈥檚 still more work to do.
The Higher Education Coordinating Commission began overseeing the state鈥檚 community colleges in 2015. The state agency monitors how both community colleges and public universities are performing, prepares goals and strategic plans and works with institutions and state leaders to address problems.
Since 2015, the Secretary of State鈥檚 Office found student performance has improved and financial aid has increased for community college students. But state auditors also found remaining problems including continuing equity gaps for students of color, a lack of transparency and inadequate monitoring of data that could be used to improve college systems.
Oregon Secretary Shemia Fagan said the community colleges鈥� success is not only important to the state and its workforce, but also to her personally.
鈥淓ducation helped me break the cycle of poverty in my family,鈥� Fagan said in a statement. 鈥淥ur community colleges are important gateways for students from lower-income families, for older and rural students, for working parents, for workers needing retraining. They are also crucial for Oregon鈥檚 economy. State leaders need to focus on them now more than ever.鈥�
The audit found that although student completion rates at Oregon community colleges have improved since 2015, they are still low nationally. Last year, Oregon ranked 40th in college completion rates, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
For students of color in Oregon, completion and transfer rates have also increased over the years, but 鈥渄ifferences in outcomes between these groups and white students continue, raising equity concerns for underserved students who disproportionately rely on community colleges,鈥� according to the audit.
Many of Oregon鈥檚 community colleges were hit hard by the pandemic 鈥� with and . But, the college enrollment has been shrinking even before then. Since 2012, the 17 community colleges have lost a combined roughly 42% in student enrollment, according to .
Secretary of State staff acknowledged Monday that the state鈥檚 community colleges have made vast improvements over the past few years, but there are still major work to do.
鈥淪ince our 2015 audit, there鈥檚 been some good, if not great progress made in our system, so we don鈥檛 want the significant findings 鈥� which there are 鈥� to diminish that,鈥� Kip Memmott, director of the Secretary of State鈥檚 Audits Division, said during a press conference Monday. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of work put in and a lot of progress made, so we think and we鈥檙e hopeful and aspirational that we can build on that momentum.鈥�
The audit issued a variety of recommendations to the HECC including improving transparency in the data that could be used to monitor student success at the colleges, evaluating the effectiveness of student support and academic services and issuing regular reports to the public and the legislature on community college sustainability.
The Secretary of State鈥檚 Office also called on the governor鈥檚 office and state legislature to help the HECC make these and other improvements by providing clear support, direction and authority, as well as necessary staff and funding.
In a letter to the Secretary of State鈥檚 Audits Division, HECC Executive Director Ben Cannon said the agency generally agrees with the recommendations, and is committed to addressing them. Cannon said the HECC may lack the authority, staff and resources to take on some of the tasks.
Because of the higher ed commission鈥檚 role as a coordinating agency, it doesn鈥檛 have the authority to compel community colleges to act in certain ways. That鈥檚 unlike other state agencies, such as Oregon鈥檚 Department of Education which does have the authority to set specific rules and policies for public K-12 schools.
鈥淸N]o matter how much the HECC supports the Secretary of State鈥檚 recommendations to improve community college outcomes and sustainability, implementing the recommendations is at present a shared responsibility of the HECC, local community college boards, community college staff, accrediting institutions, and the Oregon Student Success Center,鈥� Cannon wrote.
As for data reporting, Cannon wrote that the HECC already reports a variety of data online annually about the state鈥檚 higher education landscape. He said the agency will explore potentially reporting additional data next year, such as early indicators of student success.
Copyright 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit .
