Much of the Legislature’s attention this year was on how it would resolve its mandate to amply fund K-12 basic education. We outlined what remains to be done yesterday.
Yet, it still had responsibilities to meet for early childhood education and higher education. It’s still working on K-12, but made significant commitments to the latter two.
Passage of the Early Start Act, co-sponsored by Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Shoreline, will help prepare young children and increase their chances for success before entering kindergarten. The act sets standards for early learning facilities and provides support for educators in child care and pre-school settings.
But of all the budget proposals coming out of the Legislature this year, there was one that was the most unexpected, mostly because of where it came from: With both the governor and Democrats advocating a continuation of a college tuition freeze, Senate Republicans went further with a proposal to cut tuition at the state’s four-year universities.
There were legitimate concerns about cutting tuition. The cost meant less money would go toward scholarships for lower-income students; and it could potentially lower the value of college tuition credits that some have purchased at higher prices through the Guaranteed Education Tuition savings program.
In the end, Republicans and Democrats agreed to expand the tuition cut to students at the state’s community and technical colleges. Tuition at the four year colleges will be reduced by 15 percent to 20 percent over the next two years and by 5 percent at two-year schools next year.
Community colleges had to do some lobbying to be included, said Everett Community College President David Beyer, but after years of tuition increases that were creating a barrier to higher education, the reduction will be a boon to students.
Nationally, about 82 percent of full-time community college students need financial aid to help cover college costs, but only 2 percent qualify for grants that don’t require repayment, according to a 2014 report by the Association of Community College Trustees.
The Legislature increased funding to colleges to cover what they will lose from the drop in tuition revenue. But if the state is to now maintain tuition rates at a reasonable level it must keep the implied commitment to continue that “backfill” funding to four- and two-year colleges in future budgets.
Locally, the Legislature does appear to be making a commitment to higher education, said Bob Drewel, interim chancellor of Washington State University’s University Center in Everett. Most notably this is represented by $64.5 million in the state’s capital budget to fund the construction of the center’s four-story, 95,000-square-foot building near the EvCC campus off North Broadway. Currently, the program offers four-year and graduate programs in science, technology, engineering and math fields at the EvCC campus. Having its own building represents a commitment to University Center and its partners at the state’s regional universities in Bellingham, Ellensburg and Cheney.
Beyond a building, Drewel said, the Legislature also approved funding for University Center that will allow it to add programs in data analytics, software engineering and more.
“This is good. It’s good for the students, good for the economy and good for the state,” Drewel said.
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