An advisory board’s answer to nearly 18 months of study on how to meet the future demand for four-year college degrees in this area is essentially, “Sorry, we have higher priorities at the moment. Get back to us in 10 years.”
We’ll, we’re sorry, too. If we wait that long, it’ll already be too late.
Opposition within the local higher education community to a new four-year campus likely influenced the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s regrettable recommendation last week. Trustees and administrators at community colleges and the University of Washington Bothell had for various reasons spoken out against plans for a new four-year university in Snohomish County.
In the absence of specific ideas about how to fill the future gap between demand for four-year degrees in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties and their availability – the state study said the gap will be 11,000 students 20 years from now – those objections look mostly like turf concerns.
The HECB recommendation notes that existing colleges and universities aren’t adequately funded, which is why it says a new campus doesn’t make sense now. In truth, more funding and a new campus are needed. Action on both needs to take place in the legislative session that starts in January.
Some steps have been taken to provide more bachelor’s degree opportunities – the UW’s branch campus in Bothell, new four-year degree offerings at Everett Community College as well as the University Center at EvCC, Central Washington University’s programs at Edmonds Community College – but they’re relatively modest and won’t meet the future demand.
Access is already an issue. Many high school students with grades that would have been considered outstanding a few years ago can’t even qualify for admission to the University of Washington or Western Washington University because they’re so full.
Washington already is a leading importer of college graduates for high-paying jobs. If we’re to turn that around, we must commit to offering more degrees to our own students right here at home, particularly in growing fields of science and technology. More degrees in those areas will be a huge economic boost to the entire state.
The governor must step up to this issue, and support action that moves the goal of a new campus forward. Concrete ideas for what it might look like, ideas that preserve the important and valued role of the area’s community colleges, need to be developed. That will take money, but not an overwhelming amount – it’s an appropriation the governor should recommend and the Legislature approve in the coming session.
Only by starting now can we hope to meet the higher-education needs of our children and grandchildren. The Washington they’ll inherit can be a global economic leader or an also-ran. The priorities we set today will decide the matter.
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