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Community colleges in Oregon

There are 14 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Oregon reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $5,940 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Oregon, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in Oregon

  1. Tillamook Bay Community CollegeTillamook$4,896
  2. Central Oregon Community CollegeBend$5,049
  3. Clatsop Community CollegeAstoria$5,110
  4. Portland Community CollegePortland$5,220
  5. Mt Hood Community CollegeGresham$5,247

Full Oregon cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in Oregon

  1. Portland Community CollegePortland19,531
  2. Chemeketa Community CollegeSalem6,610
  3. Lane Community CollegeEugene6,064
  4. Linn-Benton Community CollegeAlbany5,174
  5. Clackamas Community CollegeOregon City4,963

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. Tillamook Bay Community CollegeTillamook24%
  2. Southwestern Oregon Community CollegeCoos Bay23%
  3. Clackamas Community CollegeOregon City22%
  4. Rogue Community CollegeGrants Pass21%
  5. Central Oregon Community CollegeBend21%

Oregon transfer guide →

All 14 community colleges in Oregon

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Blue Mountain Community CollegePendleton962$7,076
Central Oregon Community CollegeBend3,789$5,049
Chemeketa Community CollegeSalem6,610$6,345
Clackamas Community CollegeOregon City4,963$6,345
Clatsop Community CollegeAstoria493$5,110
Columbia Gorge Community CollegeThe Dalles543$5,940
Lane Community CollegeEugene6,064$6,202
Linn-Benton Community CollegeAlbany5,174$7,317
Mt Hood Community CollegeGresham3,856$5,247
Oregon Coast Community CollegeNewport376$5,544
Portland Community CollegePortland19,531$5,220
Rogue Community CollegeGrants Pass3,559$5,256
Southwestern Oregon Community CollegeCoos Bay1,270$7,192
Tillamook Bay Community CollegeTillamook294$4,896

About community college in Oregon

Oregon's 14 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Oregon community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Oregon routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Oregon's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.