EVERETT – Snohomish County will someday be home to a four-year public university, if an advisory panel recommendation gets the right backing.
The proposal is one of 26 recommendations by the Snohomish County Citizens Cabinet on Economic Development in a report that will be released today.
“They would like to see a four-year,” said Mark Funk, an analyst in the Snohomish County Executive’s Office. “Clearly, that one is long-term.”
County Executive Aaron Reardon asked the 19-member committee in February to study a series of county concerns ranging from road repairs to speeding up the land-use permitting process.
Improving higher education became part of the panel’s discussion on bolstering the economy in the state’s third most populous county.
There are no state universities in Snohomish County. The combined UW-Cascadia Community College campus is in the King County area of Bothell.
Gaining access to the state’s universities has become increasingly difficult for Washington students, who by state law are promised access to higher education.
Washington’s public community colleges and universities are already overenrolled by 18,000 students. That means public colleges and universities serve 18,000 more students than the state funds.
Most of that total – about 14,000 students – are in community and technical colleges.
The state Board of Community and Technical Colleges predicts 5,200 more students a year from community colleges will seek to transfer to four-year universities by 2012. About 14,000 students currently transfer from two-year colleges each year.
The Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board adopted a long-term plan in July asking for 46,000 more state-funded enrollment slots by 2010 to meet the need and increase the number of graduates from community colleges and universities.
The board has not yet outlined where the state would find the classroom space to increase enrollment, said Kris Betker, a spokeswoman for the board.
There has been periodic talk of building a new university in the state.
The Evergreen State College in Olympia, which opened in 1967, is the only public four-year school to open in the state since Western Washington University opened in 1899.
Two candidates for governor, Christine Gregoire and Ron Sims, both Democrats, say a new four-year college is likely needed. Dino Rossi, a Republican, said he is not yet convinced of the need.
Connie Niva, a county panel member and Washington State University regent, said the report makes two higher-education recommendations.
The first is to analyze ways to improve existing access to bachelor degrees in Snohomish County. Western Washington University and Central Washington University offer limited degree programs through Everett and Edmonds community colleges, respectively.
Enrollment at Central Washington University in Lynnwood increased to 515 this year, from 393 in 2003.
EvCC hopes to build an undergraduate center by 2009 and expand its relationship with WWU, which enrolls the equivalent of 300 full-time students pursuing elementary education and human services degrees.
The second push is for a four-year university, Niva said.
“If you are going to talk about economic development, you have to talk about a motivated and educated work force,” she said.
State Sen. Dave Schmidt, R-Mill Creek, is vice chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee. He believes a new university is a long-term possibility, but it may not be a traditional campus.
“It’s not out of the question long term to see that happen,” Schmidt said.
He said Snohomish County remains the largest underserved area in the state when it comes to four-year public college access.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@ heraldnet.com.
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