Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, a graduate school of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine in Portland’s Old Town, announced last Thursday that it would close after 41 years of operation.
This will be the last time a college training practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine will close in the U.S., and Portland becomes at least the second private school to announce its closure this year. Multnomah College, a private Christian school in Montavilla, announced last fall that it would merge with Jessup College because it could no longer afford to operate independently.
Oregon College of Oriental Medicine announced in a news release that enrollment has been cut in half over the past four years. University officials say enrollment at higher education institutions is declining and the cost of training in acupuncture and other traditional Chinese medicine often exceeds the amount students can earn in the field. The number of students pursuing this field is decreasing.
Administrators also argue that homelessness, crime and drug use have skyrocketed near the campus, scaring away prospective students and “damaging” the value of the property at Northwest First Avenue and Couch Street.
In 2012, the university moved from its original campus in Southeast Portland to a building in Portland’s historic Chinatown. University leaders purchased the dilapidated former Grove Hotel and spent $15 million renovating it to Reed Gold standards.
Like other buildings in Old Town Chinatown, it was affected by the exodus from the area due to the pandemic and the resulting increase in homelessness.
“People were sleeping in doorways, defecating in the walkways around OCOM, breaking windows, and harassing students,” said board president Travis Kahn. “Patients didn’t want to come downtown, students didn’t want to come downtown, staff didn’t want to come downtown.”
The building, with its rooftop deck near the Willamette River, once attracted student attention, but in recent years students have begun withdrawing their applications after visiting campus, Kahn said. University President Phil Lundberg said real estate values have fallen so much that the university owes more than its buildings are worth.
Enrollment at the university, which offers master’s-level and doctoral programs, fell from about 220 in 2019 to 135 last fall. School leaders predicted the decline would continue into the fall of 2024.
Earning a master’s degree in acupuncture at the school was expected to cost nearly $74,000 this year. It can cost students up to $120,000 to complete a graduate program in traditional Chinese medicine. Tuition costs ranged from $26,000 to $30,000 this year, but have increased by an average of 4.7% annually across university programs during the pandemic. Inflation and the cost of adapting to coronavirus precautions have pushed up education costs, school officials said.
“The real problem is that the cost of education is sky-high,” Kaylin O’Hara, a graduate of the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, said in a video posted to Instagram. “…If people can’t afford these educations, they’ll never be in a position to pay off their debts. How is this sustainable?”
Khan said regulators of acupuncture schools and traditional Chinese medicine schools require long training hours, making the programs expensive to operate. He said students typically attend the University of Portland’s graduate program full-time for three to four years, sometimes taking out additional loans to cover living expenses. Khan said acupuncturists often earn between $50,000 and $75,000 a year, making it difficult to pay off debt.
Khan said last year the university looked at ways to restructure its programs to reduce costs, but found it was impossible to meet accrediting agency standards while reducing costs by more than 10%. He also experienced two layoffs during the pandemic and received a $2 million coronavirus relief loan from the Small Business Administration.
“We’re seeing a series of barriers that prevent us from being agile and making the changes we need to survive,” Khan said.
The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine has submitted plans to state and federal regulators to allow current and future students to transfer their degrees to the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland and the University of Five Branches in California. Lundberg said he expects some faculty members to be absorbed by other institutions, but said about 100 people will have their livelihoods affected if the university closes.
Amber Redding-Gazzini, alumnus and president of the Oregon Acupuncture Association, said the school’s closure means the loss of one of the first acupuncture schools in the country. She said the university helped “elevate” the profession by setting high clinical standards and advocating for acupuncture’s inclusion in hospital systems, regulation by state medical boards, and coverage in state Medicaid plans. Told.
“It’s really like losing one of the patriarchs in this profession,” Redding-Gazzini said.
Multnomah University, founded in 1936, has also experienced a continued decline in student enrollment in recent years, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported. In the early 2010s, the number of students enrolled was in the 900 range, but by 2021 it has fallen to less than 600. University officials announced last fall that it would merge with Jessup, a California-based Christian university. Jessup College has seen enrollment growth over the past 10 years. Chronicle of Higher Education As of May 1, the former Multnomah University campus has been operating as the Multnomah Campus of Jessup College, recruiting students for fall 2024.
Multnomah filed a notice with the state on May 7 saying it would lay off 81 full-time employees and seven part-time employees as part of the transition. However, the notice states that Jessup College intends to rehire these former employees.
Representatives for Jessup did not respond to questions seeking confirmation whether all 88 staff members would be hired.
Sami Edge covers higher education and politics for The Oregonian. She can be reached at the following address: sedge@oregonian.com or (503) 260-3430.
