Now that the vision of a new polytechnic university in Snohomish County has taken shape, some local higher education leaders are sounding an alarm.
Community colleges worry that a new four-year campus will unnecessarily compete with a key part of their mission – to provide an affordable, cost-efficient route through the first two years of college. Indeed, 40 percent of Washingtonians who earn a bachelor’s degree started at a community college.
The University of Washington Bothell insists that the unmet need for four-year degrees projected in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties can best be met through increased funding to existing institutions, not by creating a new one.
What everyone appears to be either too polite or too politically timid to say is that higher education remains seriously underfunded in Washington. That reality threatens our state’s economic future, and access to the kind of educational opportunities our children will need to make a decent living.
State support for higher education took a steady dive starting in 1991. It finally rebounded somewhat in the current budget, but it’s still well behind where it should be. In 1991, the state appropriated $9,500 for each budgeted full-time student at public four-year institutions; currently the figure is just $8,250. And students are shouldering an ever-heavier burden – tuition is up a whopping 82 percent in the past decade, while personal income has grown less than half that fast.
The state’s universities and community and technical colleges have been fighting over pieces of a shrinking pie, so it’s understandable that they’d balk at having another mouth to feed. The better answer – admittedly, not an easy one – is to bake a bigger pie.
The need is clear. The state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board estimates that if higher-education capacity isn’t added, more than 11,000 eligible students in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties won’t be able to attend public college here. And Snohomish is among the largest counties in the nation without a four-year college. UW Bothell is just over the county line, but worsening freeway congestion and other factors have made it less than attractive to Snohomish County students.
The need will only be met if a larger share of the state budget is devoted to higher education. It’s a priority that should be embraced by both political parties. It’s about equal opportunity (those eligible for college should be able to go) and economic development (good-paying employers require a skilled pool of workers).
A new university mustn’t come at the expense of the vital role played by community and technical colleges. But the need for additional bachelor’s degree opportunities in the three-county area is real, and it’s growing. Local college leaders should join with local government and business leaders in calling for resources that match the need.
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