The Oregon State Board of Higher Education convened Friday to discuss tuition equity, the Governor’s Recommended Budget for 2011-13 and the proposed use of investment earnings for tuition revenue.
Tuition equity
Currently before the Oregon legislature as Senate Bill 742, tuition equity refers to the provision of in-state tuition to students whose parents’ undocumented residency status forces them to pay out-of-state tuition rates at Oregon universities.
The bill proposes that these students, many of whom have attended all or nearly all of their K-12 education in the U.S., should be eligible for in-state tuition.
To be considered eligible, students would need to attend three years of elementary or secondary school in Oregon before earning a diploma and plan to become a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
Their qualification for in-state tuition would continue for a maximum of five years after their initial enrollment in an Oregon school.
“There is talent that is being unrealized that this bill will help Oregon achieve,” an Oregon University System press release said.
OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner said in the release that a single Oregon university is expected to host no more than 15 of these students in the next four years.
Board members reason that the state has already invested in these students, and they are an important part of the state’s communities and culture.
The Board voted unanimously to back a resolution supporting the bill.
Governor’s Recommended Budget for OUS
Jay Kenton, OUS vice chancellor for finance and administration, presented the board with the Governor’s Recommended Budget for the next two years.
The recommended budget of $714.7 million, a 5 percent decrease from the 2009-11 budget of $751.9 million, emphasizes undergraduate and economic development programs — prioritizing those related to statewide workforce goals. Funds will be shared by all seven OUS schools.
Another component of the budget addresses awarding funds based on universities’ issuance of degrees and certificates, rather than on their enrollment growth.
This would create an incentive for universities to focus on awarding degrees over bolstering enrollment rates.
The release of the GRB is the first of many steps in drafting a finalized OUS budget, which the Oregon legislature must approve by May.
Tuition Investment Earnings
Pernsteiner summarized for the Board a provision of Senate Bill 242 that, if passed, would use net proceeds from investment earnings on tuition revenue to provide need-based grants to Oregon undergraduates. This bill is the OUS proposal to higher education reform, in the same vein as University President Richard Lariviere’s New Partnership proposal.
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