Dive Brief:

• Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission is recommending that every recent high school graduate in the state receive enough financial aid in 2016 to afford a $20,000-per-year college bill — an average of more than $4,000 per student.
• The new commission was tasked with making recommendations to Gov. John Kitzhaber on how to spend a new $147 million in higher education funding, considering budget requests for colleges, universities, and financial aid for students, The Oregonian reports.
• Besides allocating $66 million for increased financial aid, the commission said $39 million should be added to funding for the state's seven public universities and $34 million for its 17 community colleges.

Dive Insight:

Rounding out the $147 million pie of recommendations, a $5 million slice would go to programs that help poor high school students prepare for college, $2 million would be spent on an updated computer system for financial aid, and $1 million would go for other changes in operations and oversight. If approved, the student financial aid increase would be 60% higher than the current state budget. The increased financial aid grants would apply for the first two years of college, then students would receive the same state aid they get now — up to $2,000 per year.