Lawmakers’ good old college try paid off

After watching state funding for higher education deteriorate over the past couple of budget cycles, I was very excited to see that the operating budget Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law on May 17 has been correctly described as the best in years for our state’s colleges and universities. The governor and Legislature deserve much praise for looking ahead toward fulfilling the needs of this state. In addition, the 2005-07 budget represents a major victory for the state’s strategic planning effort to meet the higher education needs of students, workers, businesses and communities.

Last year, after working for months with legislators, college administrators and community leaders, the Higher Education Coordinating Board adopted the state’s Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education. The plan outlined two goals: (1) increase the number of students who earn degrees; and (2) make the entire system more responsive to the state’s economic needs.

When this year’s legislative accomplishments are viewed in light of the 2004 strategic plan, it’s clear that Gov. Gregoire and legislators from both parties took the HECB’s work very seriously. This is good news for our state and bodes well for the coming generation of students who deserve a top-quality education system. Some examples:

•Enrollment increases: The budget includes funding to support 7,900 new full-time enrollments at the public colleges and universities. For the first time in years, this state’s investment in higher education expansion will exceed population growth during the two-year budget period. This enrollment increase gives strong momentum toward the HECB’s strategic plan goal of enabling students each year to earn 27,000 associate, 30,000 bachelor’s, and 11,500 graduate degrees by 2010.

•Tuition: Tuition increases will be limited to a maximum of 7 percent per year at the University of Washington and Washington State University, which matches the limit called for in the strategic master plan and protects the long-term financial stability of the state’s highly successful Guaranteed Education Tuition program. Tuition increases at the other public colleges were limited to lesser amounts.

•Financial aid for low-income students: The governor and the Legislature provided a $70 million increase for the State Need Grant program, which will enable the HECB to add about 10,000 students to the 50,000-plus who currently receive this crucial assistance. The state will be able to provide grants to students whose incomes are no more than 65 percent of the state median family income – approximately $43,000 for a family of four.

•Branch campuses: Responding to recommendations by the HECB, lawmakers took critical steps toward creating full-fledged four-year universities at the branch campuses operated in Vancouver by WSU and in Tacoma and Bothell by the UW. Beginning in fall 2006, students in the three branch campus regions will be able to complete all four years at the branch campus and graduate without having to transfer from one college to another.

•Two-year college innovation: The governor and the Legislature also cleared the way for up to four community and technical colleges to offer “applied baccalaureate degrees” – in essence, to complete the four-year programs of students who began with two years of technical training. The two-year colleges also received limited authority to contract with universities for bachelor’s degree programs in specific fields. The HECB strategic plan called for consideration of these and other strategies to improve access to college for students from “under-served” communities.

•Research and economic development: One of the biggest successes of the session will undoubtedly prove to be approval of Gov. Gregoire’s life science research initiative. Lawmakers authorized the state to invest $350 million per year for 10 years in the Life Sciences Discovery Fund to support health and agriculture research and to strengthen the state’s competitive position in the world economy. Funds received from the federal tobacco settlement will be augmented by private donations and grants, so Washington can look forward to up to $1 billion in research and economic development activity.

To be sure, the governor and the Legislature did not solve every higher education problem. In fact, lawmakers were forced to eliminate the popular Promise Scholarship program in order to support other higher education budget increases. But Gov. Gregoire won $1.7 million in funding for a comprehensive study of the education system from preschool through college, which will provide important information to help policymakers continue the progress they made this year.

If future sessions are as productive as the 2005 session, Washington’s higher education system – and the long-term planning effort that supports it – will have a very positive impact on our state’s economic, cultural and educational vitality.