Oregon lawmakers have advanced a new law requiring the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to review the state’s public colleges and recommend changes to improve their financial footing. The commission will assess each institution’s academic programming, research, student body, and educational model against its mission, and it can recommend collaboration, restructuring, or integration—plus identify “unnecessary program duplication.” A preliminary report is due Oct. 1, with a final report scheduled for April 1, 2027. The statute is framed as a response to mixed enrollment trends, increased competition for students (including out-of-state and online options), and fears that internal competition is weakening collaboration. For public institutions already managing liquidity stress—Southern Oregon University and Lane Community College are cited as examples—the review formalizes the risk of program cuts and organizational consolidation across the sector.