Primary and secondary
As of 2005, the state had 559,215 students in public primary and secondary schools. There were 199 public school districts at that time, served by 20 education service districts. The five largest school districts as of 2007 were: Portland Public Schools (46,262 students), Salem-Keizer School District (40,106), Beaverton School District (37,821), Hillsboro School District (20,401), and Eugene School District (18,025).
Colleges and universities
Public
The Oregon University System supports seven public universities and one affiliate in the state. The University of Oregon in Eugene is Oregon's flagship liberal arts institution, and was the state's only nationally ranked university by U.S. News & World Report. Oregon State University is located in Corvallis and holds the distinction of being the state's flagship research university with top ranked programs in science, engineering, and agriculture. The university is also the state's highest ranking university/college in a world survey of academic merit.
The state's urban Portland State University has Oregon's largest enrollment. The state has three regional universities: Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Southern Oregon University in Ashland, and Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. The Oregon Institute of Technology has its campus in Klamath Falls. The affiliate Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) comprises a medical, dental, and nursing school in Portland and a science and engineering school in Hillsboro. It rated 2nd among US best medical schools based on research by The Med School 100.
Oregon has historically struggled to fund higher education. Recently, Oregon has cut its higher education budget over 2002–2006 and now Oregon ranks 46th in the country in state spending per student. However, 2007 legislation forced tuition increases to cap at 3% per year, and funded the OUS far beyond the requested governor's budget.
The state also supports 17 community colleges.
Private
Oregon is home to a wide variety of private colleges. The University of Portland and Marylhurst University are Catholic institutions in the Portland area. Reed College, Concordia University, Lewis & Clark College, Multnomah Bible College, Portland Bible College, Warner Pacific College, Cascade College, the National College of Natural Medicine and Western Seminary, a theological graduate school, are also in Portland. Pacific University is in the Portland suburb of Forest Grove.
There are also private colleges further south in the Willamette Valley. McMinnville has Linfield College, while nearby Newberg is home to George Fox University. Salem is home to two private schools, Willamette University (the state's oldest, established during the provisional period) and Corban University. Also located near Salem is Mount Angel Seminary, one of America's largest Roman Catholic seminaries. Eugene is home to three private colleges: Northwest Christian University, Eugene Bible College, and Gutenberg College.