The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine is planning to close after school officials say attendance has dropped significantly since the pandemic began.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A long-established acupuncture school in Portland, Oregon’s Old Town is closing. Officials say the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) is one of the top acupuncture schools in the country, but its location is making it difficult to stay afloat.
“Since the pandemic, we’ve seen an increase in crime and open drug use,” OCOM Chairman Phil Lundberg said.
Many businesses have left Old Town since the pandemic began, and now OCOM is seeing an increase in verbal abuse and assaults on staff and students on the streets of Old Town, Lundberg said. Attendance at the school has also fallen by half, he added.
“We hear from prospective students that Portland used to be an attraction, but their families discouraged them from coming here,” he said.
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Now, the school will merge with the city’s National University of Natural Medicine, allowing students to continue their education there.
But some former students believe the main reason for the closure is high tuition fees.
“It’s also a big deterrent for people investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in their education that they may never be able to pay back,” Dr. Kaylin O’Hara said.
O’Hara attended OCOM from 2012 to 2016. While increased crime is a factor, she said the biggest factor is cost.
“The cost to students isn’t really the issue,” Lundberg countered. “It’s the issues on the ground that are preventing people from coming.”
Old Town business owners agree that neighborhood issues are hurting some businesses.
“A lot of us are drowning,” said Jesse Burke, president of the Old Town Community Association.
While new businesses are coming into Old Town, it’s hard for anchor businesses to survive, Burke added.
“We hope that city, county and state leaders will take this seriously,” she added.
OCOM will end regular operations on Aug. 31 to graduate its final class of students.
