A proposed plan to form a public corporation of Oregon's public colleges and universities, designed to increase institutional autonomy and loosen state regulatory ties by establishment of an autonomous governing board, has been defeated, due to characterizations of the plan as a threat to state government and the legislature's power to guard…

In answer to sweeping reform of public schools in Oregon, the state's colleges and universities are adopting proficiency-based admissions, designed to measure how much applicants know instead of how many courses they took in high school. Observers praise the higher education community's cooperative response to school reform efforts. (MSE)