Nothing on Kyle Henley’s expensive Around the O, and if you check Libby Batlan and Hans Bernard’s UO’Government Relations website you just get a bunch of Duck pictures. But OSU’s Jock Mills’s very transparent Government Relations Office at Oregon State has the information on their excellent blog here. On the capital side, UO would get $54M to redo Huestis Hall, or just 15% of the total proposal for the seven publics:
Apparently Knight Campus vacuumed up UO’s share of state bonding last biennium – $70 million of it. But remember, the Knight Campus is going to benefit all of UO.
More on the HECC proposal, from the OSU blog:
HECC recommends capital and operating budgets for the 2019-21 biennium
On Thursday, August 2, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) approved recommendations for capital and operating budgets for community colleges and universities, as well as for financial aid programs for the 2019-21 biennium. The next play is in the Governor’s hands as she develops a comprehensive budget proposal due in late November/early December.
PUSF: The HECC approved a base budget for the Public University Support Fund (PUSF) that does not reflect the Current Service Level (CSL) identified by universities but includes policy option packages (POPs) that would increase state spending for higher education from $737 million for the current biennium to $923 million, a 25% increase. University presidents have indicated that at least $867 million is needed to keep tuition increases below 5% for each of the next two years. The HECC proposal would enable much-needed investments in student success and retention at all seven universities.
Oregon Opportunity Grants: The HECC also recommended a whopping $107 million (73%) increase in funding for the Oregon Opportunity Grant program — the primary source of state-funded financial aid for university students administered by the Oregon Office of Student Access and Completion (OSAC). While still focused on providing aid to those students with the highest need, the increase will open the program to serve an estimated 16,150 Pell-eligible students currently attending universities and community colleges. Under this funding level, OSAC will be able to maintain a grant amount that is approximately equal to 15% of the average cost of attendance at a 2- or 4- year public college or university.
If the state doesn’t come through with the PUSF increases, there will be another round of high tuition increases. On the other hand the proposal to expand the OOG program would offset these for low-income Oregonians. Like.
Piece by UO faculty: https://quillette.com/2018/08/27/the-self-defeat-of-academia/