The University of Washington at Bothell could grow from 1,300 students to 6,000 by 2020 under a long-term plan ordered by the Legislature.
The branch campus envisions adding 600 students by 2009, according to the 106-page document.
It also proposes that UW-Bothell consider accepting underclassmen. The campus just south of the Snohomish County line now enrolls junior, senior and graduate students.
However, the proposals will depend on an infusion of millions of more dollars from the state for road and building improvements and for the increased enrollments.
UW-Tacoma and Washington State University’s branch campuses also will submit long-term growth plans.
“We believe implementing this plan is vital not only for students and their families but for the future economic health and welfare of the entire region,” UW-Bothell Chancellor Warren Buck said.
Deborah Knutson, president of the Snohomish County Economic Development Council, serves on the UW-Bothell advisory board and helped draft the report.
“Just because we have gone this far doesn’t mean it’s over,” Knutson said. “We have to sell it to the Legislature.”
The report discusses access issues that are making it harder for students to enroll in the state’s public universities, particularly in Western Washington.
This fall, 70 percent of in-state freshmen admitted to the University of Washington’s Seattle campus were from King or Snohomish counties. So, too, were 70 percent of those who met admission requirements but couldn’t get in because there wasn’t room, the report says.
Establishing a small lower-division program for freshmen and sophomores could provide space for some of the students living in the north Puget Sound region who are denied admission in Seattle, the report says.
“Even those who had high grade point averages and high test scores, there is only so much space at the University of Washington,” Knutson said.
Opening UW-Bothell to freshmen and sophomores might keep some of those students in state, she said.
The report also proposes expanding partnerships with area community colleges, including Cascadia Community College, which shares a campus with UW-Bothell.
The state Board of Community and Technical Colleges predicts there will be 5,200 more students a year with transfer degrees from community colleges wanting to get into four-year universities by 2012. About 14,000 students transfer from two-year colleges each year.
It predicts that UW-Bothell will remain a commuter college without residence halls or athletic teams. Sixty-four percent of its student body lives in King County and 27 percent live in Snohomish County. More than three of every four students works either full- or part-time.
Of the 3,762 UW-Bothell graduates since 1990 living in the state, more than 90 percent reside in Snohomish or King counties, the report says.
Eric Stevick is a reporter with The Herald in Everett.
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