Two policy moves this week signaled intensifying pressure on public higher education to consolidate and re-evaluate program portfolios. Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission recommended a slate of ‘institutional integration’ measures — from shared services to mergers — and requested authority to renew or terminate degree programs to address looming deficits and unsustainable tuition dependence. Separately, Scottish analysts warned a parliamentary review of university funding risks deferring hard choices and urged broader consideration of post-16 education amid falling enrollments and widespread projected deficits. Both developments show governments moving from stopgap funding to structural reforms that could reshape campus footprints, program mixes and regional mission alignments.