Bill would widen aid for students

OLYMPIA – Rising tuition costs have lawmakers worrying that higher education may be pricing itself out of range for full-time workers who attend classes part time.

A bill sponsored by state Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle. It could help ease the financial burden for those students by expanding eligibility for the State Need Grant.

The grant is the largest state-funded financial aid program and is disbursed to low-income students working toward a degree or certificate program. Currently, to be eligible for financial aid from the state, a student must be half-time status, which means the student must take the equivalent of 6 credit hours per quarter.

Hasegawa told members of the Higher Education Committee on Friday that most students who are considered less than half-time status can only afford to take one class. He said these students should be eligible for assistance from the state.

“A vast majority of these students are working full time and are seeking higher education to improve their livelihood,” Hasegawa told. “As policy-makers we should encourage, not discourage, that behavior.”

Last year, nearly 48,000 resident undergraduate students who attended community and technical colleges were enrolled on a less than half-time basis. During that same period 3,200 students at public four-year institutions were enrolled on a less than half-time basis.

Becki Collins, director of student financial assistance for the Higher Education Coordinating Board, told the committee 6,000 eligible students were not given assistance by the state because the grant ran out of funds. Collins said she was in favor of the bill but offered a caveat before her testimony: “We ask that all students are served at the current level before undertaking expansion of the program.”

As in recent years, the state faces a budget shortfall. This year, lawmakers are facing a $1.8 billion deficit, making the outlook for additional funding for the grant bleak.

Hasegawa’s bill, HB 1345, has the support of nearly 20 lawmakers and would allow students who are enrolled in at least four credits to be eligible for the State Need Grant.

For the current academic year the State Need Grant fund has $125 million, which assists about 55,500 students. The bill would increase the fund by $3.57 million during the next two years, which is estimated to serve the equivalent of 1,600 full-time enrollments. Because colleges are funded in part based on full-time enrollments and the students receiving the grant will be attending less than part time, Collins said an exact number of students expected to benefit from the bill is difficult to predict.

The committee’s primary concern about the bill was the 6,000 eligible students who did not receive assistance. There was no opposing testimony during the hearing. However, some proponents of the bill said the lack of funding needs to be addressed but assisting those who have financial need is a bigger priority.

“The state over the years has made extraordinary efforts with financial aid,” said Greg Scheiderer, a representative from the Independent Colleges of Washington. “We hope that support for the bill would also signal support for fully funding the grant program in addition to support for the additional students who are eligible.”