Our Mission and CommitmentThe Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) remains committed to our mission to advance equitable access and success in postsecondary education and training, meet workforce needs, and strengthen Oregon’s collective future. The HECC’s commitment to equitable opportunity in postsecondary education and training has been woven into the agency’s policies, programs, and processes since the founding of HECC as a state agency in 2013. Agency work is driven by Oregon's state education and training goals that commit us to better serving underrepresented populations who are not served today.
The HECC’s work is anchored in the belief that every learner matters and deserves access to a wide range of postsecondary opportunities through community colleges, universities, career schools, apprenticeships, and workforce training programs. At its best, postsecondary education is a powerful equalizer, preparing diverse communities across the state to thrive, and meeting workforce and economic needs.
Monitoring Federal Changes
Working with Governor Kotek as well as state, institutional, and program partners, the HECC is actively assessing the potential impact of recent federal directives on Oregonians served by the postsecondary education and training system.
The HECC is working with legal experts to assess a termination notice that was received on April 25, 2025 for the AmeriCorps State program grants. OregonServes is in contact with AmeriCorps State grantees on their program status. Details are provided below.
The AmeriCorps State Grant, administered by the HECC through OregonServes, supports statewide national service activities. Current AmeriCorps State Grant recipients are listed below.
Total amount awarded to HECC: $4,486,377
Allowable Cost Period of Award: August 01, 2024 – July 31, 2025
GRANTEES:
College Possible
- Focus Area: Education
- Service Area: Statewide
- AmeriCorps members serve as near-peer coaches and provide personalized support to students, beginning during the students’ junior year of high school, and through college graduation, to ensure that each student not only gets into college but thrives there.
Confluence Environmental Center
- Focus Area: Environmental Stewardship
- Service Area: Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington Counties
- AmeriCorps members gain valuable skills and experience in the environmental justice field as well as leadership training and certification in areas such as CPR/First Aid, Volunteer Management, and Racial Equity Training.
United Community Action Network (UCAN)
- Focus Area: Economic Opportunity, Education, Healthy Futures
- Service Area: Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine Counties
- AmeriCorps members help individuals, families, veterans, and other community members address their basic life needs and equip them with skills, resources, and opportunities to exit poverty.
Metropolitan Family Services (MFS)
- Focus Area: Economic Opportunity, Education, Environmental Stewardship, Healthy Futures
- Area: Portland Metro, Multnomah, Clackamas Counties
- AmeriCorps members provide hands-on, direct support through programs such as CASH Oregon, Hunger Relief, Ready, Set, Go!, Project Linkage, and through after-school programs, to address critical community needs, while also gaining valuable professional and personal experience, insights, and growth for their next steps after service. AmeriCorps members have been assisting income-challenged community members access electric vehicles and bikes through rebates, grants, tax credits.
Coalition for Racial and Educational Justice (CoREJ), Formerly known as Campus Compact of Oregon
- Focus Area: Education
- Service Area: Statewide
- Programs include Aspiring BIPOC Educators Program, Connect2Complete: Equitable Pathways, Project Rebound PNW, Black Liberation in Higher Education, K-12 Mentoring & Student Success, LGBTQIA2S+ Student Success, and Portland United Against Hate. Focused on low-income students, students of color, and first-generation students.
Partnerships for Student Achievement (PSA)
- Focus Area: Education
- Service Area: Washington, Yamhill Counties
- PSA increases student academic achievement through tutoring, mentoring, extended day school activities, specialized projects, and recruitment and management of community volunteers. AmeriCorps members support elementary, middle, and high school students in the Forest Grove School District through mentoring, extended day school activities, tutoring.
Ethos Rural Outreach Program
- Focus Area: Education
- Service Area: Statewide
- AmeriCorps members provide youth in rural, underserved communities with opportunities to develop sustainable, independent K-12 music programs. Members serve in small rural communities in central and eastern Oregon.
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE)
- Focus Area: Education, Environmental Stewardship, Healthy Futures
- Service Area: Statewide
- AmeriCorps members assist rural communities and agencies with planning and implementation of critical projects such as community and economic development, food systems, and environmental and sustainability planning.
Salvation Army (Grants Pass Corps)
- Focus Area: Economic Opportunity
- Service Area: Jackson, Josephine Counties
- AmeriCorps members provide resources and critical support to individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness, empowering them to overcome barriers, secure stable housing, and achieve economic stability through education and employment.
The HECC is assessing possible impacts to some grantees who are benefiting from planning grants.
Statewide service in Oregon is supported by the federally-funded AmeriCorps State Grant Program, administered by the HECC Office of Workforce Investments. The AmeriCorps State Grant, administered by the HECC, through the federally-required state service commission, OregonServes, supports statewide national service activities.
On April 25, 2025, OregonServes received notice from the federal AmeriCorps agency that the 2024 AmeriCorps State program grant has been terminated.
The HECC is actively assessing the impact of this decision in close partnership with Governor Kotek and legal counsel. As a result, HECC is not directing grantees to alter any program activities at this time. HECC has informed grantees that the agency cannot guarantee that the state will be able to reimburse expenses incurred after April 28 should they be disallowed by federal AmeriCorps. Each grantee may assess risks internally and make a decision that makes the most sense for their program. OregonServes is in contact with grantees about their program status.
HECC is working diligently with its partners, including those in other states, to restore AmeriCorps programming.
If there are significant changes to HECC agency operations, we will share details with the public here.
HECC Programs and Federal Resources
HECC is actively assessing the potential impact of recent federal directives. At this time there are no changes to HECC programs. We are actively assessing a termination notice related to the State AmeriCorps program (see Monitoring Federal Changes above) and will inform the public if changes are made.
The HECC’s programs and activities are primarily state-funded, but numerous of its workforce and education programs depend on federal funding. In addition, numerous HECC programs and activities, including Oregon financial aid programs administered by the HECC, are reliant on the U.S. Department of Education services.
Oregon’s federally-funded programs administered by the HECC include:
- Workforce services for Oregon workers, dislocated workers, and job-seekers (delivered through local workforce boards and partners) under Title I of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Department of Labor
- Statewide national service activities supported by Oregon’s AmeriCorps State Grant Program - see the status of federal orders regarding this program under "Monitoring Federal Changes" above
- Postsecondary career and technical education programs supported by the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V), administered in partnership with the Oregon Department of Education
- Adult basic skills education including English language instruction programs, supported by Title II of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, which is part of WIOA
- Workforce and education resources through Future Ready Oregon programs, funded in part by pandemic relief funds that were awarded to the State of Oregon
The HECC agency work is directly connected to U.S. Department of Education (U.S. ED) services in numerous ways:
- The U.S. ED administers federal student aid for college student such as the Pell Grant that serves tens of thousands of Oregonians statewide. The amount of federal aid in many cases impacts the amount of grant aid that the HECC-Office of Student Access and Completion (OSAC) awards, since some state financial aid programs are “last dollar" programs.
- The Oregon grant and scholarship programs (administered by OSAC) utilize the federal student aid form, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), to determine eligibility for many forms of financial aid awarded in Oregon. The HECC-OSAC is also the state's depository of FAFSA data.
- The HECC administers funding that is awarded by the U.S ED including;
- The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (Title II) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) supports, through HECC, Oregon community colleges in serving adults who seek basic (pre-college) education.
- Postsecondary career and technical education programs in Oregon are supported by the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V), administered in partnership with the Oregon Department of Education.
- The HECC authorizes and licenses private institutions with a focus on consumer protection. The U.S. ED maintains a list of approved accreditors that the HECC relies on in its authorization and licensing of schools serving Oregonians.
- The HECC relies on the U.S. ED for data that the agency and institutions use for evaluation, accountability, and planning.
In addition, the U.S. ED serves Oregon students through its enforcement of civil rights, administration of student loans and loan repayment/forgiveness, college planning resources such as the College Scorecard, and other resources.
Resources for Colleges and Universities
The HECC is assessing the potential impact of federal directives on Oregonians served by the state’s colleges and universities. As a coordinating (not a governing) commission, the HECC does not speak on behalf of Oregon’s independently governed institutions on federal directives, but we are in close communication with state and institutional partners to gain clarity on the potential impacts.
The following guidance issued on March 5, 2025 from the Oregon Attorney General addresses diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility issues in the context of the Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter from the US Department of Education, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, and federal civil rights law.
- Oregon Attorney General Rayfield Issues Multistate Guidance for Schools on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Initiatives, March 5, 2025, Guidance Letter.
On February 14, 2025, the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter setting out its interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin, and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution provides that all people are entitled to equal protection of the laws.
The Dear Colleague letter does not change existing federal law. The letter reiterates the existing requirement that entities receiving federal financial assistance follow federal civil rights laws. Higher education institutions should continue to comply with federal civil rights laws. Oregon has long-standing core values and statutory commitments to ensure that every child is entitled to a high-quality educational experience free from discrimination or harassment, in compliance with federal laws.
Those commitments to the principles of anti-discrimination, equity, and inclusion are reflected in many different laws, including: disability rights in education (ORS 659A.103), rights to public spaces (ORS 659A.403), prohibitions on discrimination (ORS 659.850), pay equity (ORS 652), educator equity (ORS 342), the Oregon Sanctuary Law (ORS 180.805 - 180.810 and ORS 181A.820 - 181A.829), and more.
The HECC remains committed to advancing policies that reflect Oregon’s values while ensuring compliance with all applicable laws.
Other Resources
Oregon’s Sanctuary Laws
Last updated: April 29, 2025