Rising College Tuition Could Be Offset By Aid

Tuition at Washington’s public colleges will rise between 3 percent and 6 percent during each of the next two years, partially offset by more generous student financial aid, key lawmakers said Tuesday.

The House and Senate Higher Education committees heard from a parade of college and student witnesses who used the same mantra that “the best form of financial aid is low tuition.” But no one flatly opposed a tuition increase this session, and some even offered suggestions, ranging from 3 percent to 5 percent per year.

The University of Washington asked for considerably larger increases for out-of-state students and for students in the law and master of business administration programs.

House Higher Education Chairman Don Carlson, R-Vancouver, and his Senate counterpart, Jeannette Wood, R-Woodway, are preparing identical bills to boost tuition - the actual rate still to be negotiated - and a $53 million increase in the state’s student financial aid program.

Carlson said the tuition increase for in-state undergraduate students will be “in the ballpark of 4 percent per year,” roughly the same increase permitted for state spending growth under Initiative 601. But he said lawmakers still are considering figures ranging from 3 percent per year to 6 percent per year.

“I see this range as affordable, and we are interested in building stability and predictability into the system,” he said in an interview.

Carlson and Wood met with Democratic Gov. Gary Locke earlier and agreed to try to increase higher education’s 11 percent share of the state budget. Some of the additional tuition dollars will offset other tax dollars that would have been needed for colleges.

For students who qualify, the tuition increase will be offset by a more generous financial aid package, the lawmakers said.

Washington students currently get about $148 million in state-backed grants and loans. Another $533 million comes from federal aid programs and $77 million from colleges themselves.