The audit examined community college student outcomes and school oversight by the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
While student performance and community colleges’ focus on equity has improved since the commission began overseeing the schools in 2015, the audit found what the Secretary of State’s office called “substantial deficits.”
Student outcomes remain lower than in other states, the audit says, and the college system lacks transparency and accountability. And, it says, the state has provided the colleges little oversight or guidance on financial sustainability despite their enrollment and money troubles.
Auditors said that the commission “struggles to address” major risks that community colleges are facing, partially because of its limited authority and staff capacity. They recommend that state leaders give the commission a clear mandate to advance improvement efforts at the schools.
“The next biennium is critical, a time to recover from pandemic setbacks, strive for increased efficiency and assess the sustainability of the system going forward,” the audit says. “For a more evidence-based and equitable system to emerge, Oregon state and college leaders, working together, will need to focus much more intently on addressing student success, student support and college sustainability.”
Commission administrators agreed with most of the recommendations auditors suggested in the report, according to a response letter published with the audit, but said establishing the more “robust system of supports” auditors recommend would likely require expanding both the commission’s jurisdiction and its staff.
Community college presidents are hired by and answer to elected local boards, not to the commission, and the colleges are funded by local property taxes as well as state tax revenues.
“No matter how much the HECC supports the Secretary of State’s recommendations to improve community college outcomes and sustainability, implementing the recommendations is at present a shared responsibility,” executive director Ben Cannon wrote.
Despite some improvement in recent years, Oregon’s community college performance ranks poorly compared to other states, the audit shows.
In 2021, Oregon’s colleges ranked 40th in National Student Clearinghouse data on percent of first-time students completing a degree or transferring to a four-year university within six years, the audit says. Data from the national Integrated Postsecondary Data System ranked Oregon around 35th for three-year completion and transfer rates from 2016 to 2019.
Performance varies across the state’s 17 colleges. Four-year completion and transfer rates in 2021 ranged from 65% at Southwestern Oregon Community College to 35% at Oregon Coast Community College, according to data from the coordinating commission. Retention from a student’s first to second year ranged from 82% at Tillamook Bay Community College to 46% at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg in 2021.
Overall outcomes have improved since 2015, as have completion and transfer rates for historically underserved racial groups, the audit says. But outcomes for Black, Latino, Pacific Islander and Indigenous students continue to lag behind outcomes for white students, signaling that ongoing equity gaps remain.
“There has been some good, if not great progress made in our system,” audits director Kip Memmott said during a news conference on Monday morning. “We don’t want the significant findings – which there are – to diminish that. There’s been a lot of work put in and there’s been a lot of progress made. We think, and we’re hopeful and aspirational we can build on that momentum.”
Auditors called out two “systemic shortfalls” contributing to mediocre outcomes: limited transparency and limited accountability.
While the commission has increased transparency since it took over community college oversight in 2015, the report says the state agency “still does not provide a full picture of community college student success to the public.” Auditors recommended the commission work with colleges to establish “core student success metrics,” increase its reporting on student outcomes and benchmark those outcomes against national results.
Tim Cook, president of Clackamas Community College, said he was still digesting the 65-page audit on Monday, but that he wasn’t surprised by the state’s findings. He agreed that publishing a more comprehensive dashboard on community college data, including things like outcomes across demographic groups, would be helpful for colleges.
“It’s really about a systems approach, to be able to look at that data and see where we’re at,” Cook said.
Auditors also suggest that the commission increase tracking and reporting on the effectiveness of community colleges’ student support programs and the stability of the schools and the system overall. The commission could monitor the colleges’ financial conditions, auditors wrote, conduct data analysis to support sustainable college budgets and facilitate shared services between the institutions.
“A lack of spending scrutiny and systemic focus on cost-saving measures increases the risk college sustainability will not be adequately addressed,” the audit says. “Growing instability at community colleges would damage students, the state’s economy and the local communities the colleges serve.”
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