Locke seeks huge tuition raises

By David Ammons

Associated Press

OLYMPIA — Tuition at state four-year and two-year colleges could soar under Gov. Gary Locke’s budget proposal, which cuts aid to higher education.

The University of Washington and Washington State University might need to boost tuition as much as 18 percent next year, while other four-year schools might need a 15 percent hike, according to state analysis.

Community colleges could require a 12 percent increase in tuition.

Student groups are irate, saying double-digit tuition increases could put college out of reach for numerous students, particularly middle-class students who don’t qualify for financial aid.

College officials say higher tuition may work as a stopgap solution to a budget crunch, but that higher education shouldn’t continue to decline as a state responsibility.

Everett Community College could see its state aid cut by 3 percent under the proposal. Pat McClain, vice president for community relations, said the college is keenly aware of how sensitive students are to tuition increases.

"We recognize from a budget standpoint that’s one way to raise revenue, but it hurts the people we serve," he said. "We as colleges are saying we don’t want to go there unless we have to."

Community colleges across the state requested $21 million to help retrain workers who lose their jobs. Locke only included $9 million in his budget proposal.

"In these economic times, we just have to educate people and get them back into the workforce. That’s our niche," said Suzanne Ames, director of communications for Cascadia Community College in Bothell.

Locke’s higher education plan, part of his overall proposal to patch a $1.2 billion hole in the budget, includes these features:

Cuts. Locke would trim general fund appropriations by $54 million by cutting the budgets of four-year universities for the next fiscal year by 5 percent and the community college system by 3 percent.

Tuition. Colleges previously were authorized to boost this year’s tuition by as much as 6.7 percent and up to 6.1 percent more next year — or nearly 13 percent over the course of the two-year budget. Locke’s plan is to give trustees unlimited authority to boost tuition for the upcoming academic year. Instead of 6.1 percent, for instance, a local board could boost tuition by 15 percent or 18 percent.

The state budget office estimates that it would require an increase of as much as 18 percent to make up for the lost aid at the UW and WSU. The other four-year schools would require about 15 percent more, and community colleges 12 percent, according to the state analysis.

Locke said he doesn’t expect colleges to boost tuition high enough to cover all state cutbacks. He declined to speculate further.

Financial aid. Locke would boost financial aid to try to keep pace with the higher tuition.

Locke told reporters he has long supported giving trustees more autonomy over tuition-setting and said he hopes the erosion of state support is only a temporary setback and not a long-term policy of replacing state dollars with tuition.

If the Legislature goes along with Locke’s plan — and it’s still a big if, key legislators said — just how high will tuition go?

Each four-year school will have to take stock of its market and take care not to price itself out of competition with peer schools, said Terry Teale, director of the Council of Presidents, representing the heads of the four-year universities and The Evergreen State College.

She said there is no consensus and that some trustees may decide to hold the line while others may feel compelled to go with double-digit increases.

"The main concern of our presidents is erosion of quality over time," she said in an interview Wednesday. "It’s hard to go to the well time after time to raise tuition."

Earl Hale, director of the community college system, said his board hasn’t met, but that a 10 percent to 12 percent increase would be a good guess. That would include the previously planned 6.1 percent.

A 12 percent increase would boost community college tuition by $210 a year, from $1,743 to $1,953, Hale’s office said. That would offset about half of the loss of state aid.

But local community college representatives said it’s far too early to say what will happen to tuition levels.

The Legislature could change the proposed budget, said Everett Community College’s McClain. The school, which has been expecting reduced state aid, has been looking for other ways to trim its budget to soften tuition increases.

Cascadia’s Ames said she thought the community college system would be much more cautious about raising tuition than the four-year schools.

"Community college students are often skimming every quarter they can," she said. "They cannot afford to pay high tuition."

The UW now charges $3,593 for in-state undergraduates. A 10 percent increase would be $359 a year, bringing the total close to $4,000. College officials say the university’s peers charge about 15 percent more, but declined to speculate on what rate UW regents might adopt.

UW president Richard McCormick said recently that he wants a high-tuition, high-student-aid approach like the University of Michigan uses.

WSU has tried to restrain tuition increases, but president V. Lane Rawlins said the tuition-setting authority is needed if higher education is to cope with big cuts in state support. Enrollment may have to be limited, he said.

"We have been given some crucial tools to cope with this fiscal crisis," said Karen Morse, president of Western Washington University in Bellingham. She said she expects tuition hikes "only in the amounts necessary to maintain the high quality of Western’s programs and prevent cuts to areas that serve and affect students."

She praised Locke for not freezing faculty hiring and for proceeding with planned enrollment increases next fall.

The community college system has about 250,000 students at 34 colleges, providing about 60 percent of Washington’s higher education.