State panels push for limited tuition increases
Published 9:00 pm Monday, October 30, 2006
University tuition increases are in the works but won’t be as sharp as the past two years if a state agency’s recommendations are followed.
And community college students could see tuition costs stay level next fall if the Legislature accepts a proposal from another state board.
The recommendations come from the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Board of Community and Technical Colleges.
The Higher Education Coordinating Board has two budget proposals calling for :
5 percent to 6 percent increases for each of the next two years at the University of Washington and Washington State University. Each had 7 percent increases the last two years;
4 percent to 5 percent increases for each year at regional universities, such as Central and Western Washington, each of the next two years;
3 percent to 4 percent increases for each year at the state’s community and technical colleges.
The Higher Education board wants the Legislature to provide additional state funding to make up the difference.
“It isn’t a huge difference, but it is a way to give students a break,” said Kris Betker, a board spokeswoman.
The Board of Community and Technical Colleges wants a two-year tuition freeze and the state to pick up the increased costs at the two-year colleges.
“We are very concerned about how the increased tuition will affect our students,” said Erin Brown, a spokeswoman for the community college board.
Christine Kerlin, Everett Community College vice president for enrollment services, hopes a tuition freeze works out.
“We really need to address the cost of attending college, particularly community college,” she said. “This may be a time to freeze it and give us the opportunity to assess the ability of people who really need an education to access it.”
Since 1999, the Legislature has capped the amount colleges and universities can raise tuition, leaving it up to higher education and community college boards to establish tuition costs within those limits.
Both state boards are concerned that students are paying increasingly greater shares of their education.
At the University of Washington and Washington State University, tuition covered 33 percent of the cost of each student’s education in 1992. Today, it represents 52 percent.
Undergraduate tuition at the UW is about $5,460 compared with $3,593 during the 2001-02 school year.
Tuition at regional universities, such as Central, Eastern and Western Washington universities, paid for 25 percent of the cost in 1992 and now makes up about 40 percent.
And at community colleges, the shift of cost from taxpayer to student has risen from 23 percent to 37 percent during the last 14 years, according to state Higher Education Coordinating Board records. Community college tuition is $2,327 this year.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
