Public rejects college funding proposal

Washington state’s leading higher education official walked away from the microphone at the conclusion of a public hearing in a Riverpoint campus auditorium Wednesday and said, “Now what?”

James Sulton Jr., executive director of the state Higher Education Coordinating board of public colleges, had just listened as a parade of college officials, educators and former students from Eastern Washington gave a resounding rejection of state proposals to increase the number of students who pass through college. One of the least popular ideas was to fund schools based on the number of graduates rather than on enrollment figures.

“It’s been a consistent condemnation,” said Sulton after the three-hour hearing on the proposals. “As much as I want to deny that, it’s the truth.”

The Legislature provided $100 million less for colleges – down from $2.5 billion to $2.4 billion – in the last biennium. There’s no reason to expect an increase in state funds anytime soon, officials said.

“We’ve got to make the system work differently,” Sulton said.

The Higher Education Coordination board proposed state policy changes to increase by 20 percent the number of students who earn college degrees and complete job training each year. The changes are inspired by the inevitable arrival of the state’s largest freshman college classes, expected in 2008.

During the hearing, students and officials from the community colleges and Eastern Washington University stressed the needs of nontraditional students who often take longer to finish programs.

“I wish we had heard more about how to do that,” Sulton said.

What Sulton and HEC board members heard were numerous reasons to question their proposals.

Eastern Washington University President Stephen Jordan offered a hypothetical situation if colleges were given incentives to graduate more students; freshman classes would be ignored. Transfer students have a much higher retention rate than freshman, so colleges would be tempted to focus more efforts on transfer students, which would still hamper enrollment for traditional students, Jordan said.

Neil Beaver, who works for state Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, explained that his meandering route though college helped determine his career path.

As the son of a longtime ranch hand, Beaver said, “I never thought I’d go to college.”

He went on to attend three different community colleges and sign up for four majors at Western Washington University before finding a career direction.

“I was looking at college more as a life experience than becoming a top engineer,” Beaver said.

Gary Livingston, chancellor for Community Colleges of Spokane, said 60 percent of his system’s students stop with either an associate’s degree or a training certification. The proposals do not consider the non-traditional student, he said.

The board is left with the task of creating a model with an understanding that not everyone will be completely satisfied, Sulton said.

The HEC board is scheduled to deliver its final 2004 Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education July 22 in Cheney.

“Stay tuned. We’ve got to put something on the table,” Sulton said.