California public university financial woes continue to have a significant impact on other states’ colleges and universities. Earlier this week, Bill Graves, an education journalist with The Oregonian, reported in his blog at Oregon Live that Oregon universities and colleges are bracing for record Fall enrollments, not only at Oregon public institutions, but at its private colleges as well. One of the main reasons for this trend-“ California financially-strapped state universities”. Also mentioned as a cause- “a continuing stream of people into Oregon”. While he did not specifically mention California as a source of new residents to Oregon, it is not too difficult to surmise that California’s shaky economy is contributing to the exodus of residents from California to Oregon and other states.

As a result of the increasing growth at Oregon colleges and universities, many are reporting that they are full or nearing capacity. While some are adding classroom space, professors, and student support services, others are unable or unwilling to do so. Instead, they are raising admission standards to control enrollment. For instance, Willamette chose to raise admission standards and the University of Oregon raised its GPA for automatic admission from 3.25 to 3.4.

Because it has become so difficult for California students to gain admission to California colleges and universities, and they are now straining the systems in Washington and Oregon, California students will need to hedge their bets further and are well advised to look beyond the West Coast states for colleges that meet their academic, social and financial needs. While staying close to home is a common goal, it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve it.