When Gov. Gary Locke unveiled his supplemental budget proposal last week, area community college presidents saw an opportunity to expand enrollment.
Within the $192.7 million package is $19 million that, among other things, would allow community colleges to add enrollment with the state helping pay the cost.
Cascadia, Edmonds and Everett community colleges would compete for some of the enrollment slots among the 34 community and technical colleges in the state.
All three say they are overenrolled by hundreds of students, meaning they’ve accepted more students than the state provides money for.
The governor’s 2004 supplemental budget request makes mid-course changes to the two-year, $23 billion general fund budget adopted by the Legislature six months ago.
Local community college officials say they are encouraged the governor recognized the enrollment pressure they are facing, even if the request doesn’t cover all their costs.
"The demand is going to continue to go up," said Jack Oharah, president of Edmonds Community College. "Our mission is to serve as many of these people as we can. There is a point where we are not going to be able to do that. I’m not sure where that point is."
Community colleges serve 63 percent of all students in higher education, and 40 percent of students earning a bachelor’s degree attended a community college, he said.
"We see it as a real supportive sign for higher education," said Suzanne Ames, a spokeswoman for Cascadia College in Bothell.
"We are going to get very active in support of the governor’s proposal," said Charlie Earl, president of Everett Community College.
Typically, tuition covers about one third of the cost of a community college education in Washington, with tax revenues picking up the rest. For the typical full-time student taking 15 credits, tuition costs about $714 a quarter or $2,142 a year.
The budget proposal includes $5 million for enrollment by students pursuing studies in general academic areas. That’s the equivalent of roughly 1,400 full-time students next fall. Everett, for instance, would hope to get state money for 50 to 60 more students, Earl said.
Another $10 million is earmarked for students pursuing degrees in high-demand areas, such as technology, health care, science and engineering. Those per-student costs are generally higher, but there were no immediate estimates of how many students that amount would cover.
"I think we can all compete for those slots," Earl said.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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