College Students Face Steep Tuition Hikes, Fewer Openings

Students attending college in Washington State are likely to see tuition rates spike next year—if they can get into classes.

Higher education funding took a big hit in the 2011-2013 state budget, which the House and Senate passed last week on the final day of the legislative special session.

The state’s 34 community and technical colleges, including Lake Washington Technical College in Kirkland, are losing nearly 13 percent of their state funding over the next two years and won’t be able to serve as many students, said Charlie Earl, executive director of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

“A lot of people want to go back to school, and we’re simply not going to have the sections for them,” Earl said in an interview with Patch.

Those who do get in will have to pay more, and at crowded Lake Washington Tech, students are already finding it hard to get the classes they need. That's because more students are already attending the school, undoubtedly because of the weak economy, than what state allocations cover.

"The two things were hearing from students is that it is getting more difficult to get the classes they need because we're at 120 percent of (state) allocation, and that it will be more difficult to get in because of the reduction in financial aide, and the tuition increase itself," said school spokesperson Regine Adams.

For Lake Washington Technical College, the budget means a 19 percent reduction in its state allocation, she said, totaling $2.8 million. 

"That made the budget planning process extremely challenging" Adams said.

Lawmakers authorized tuition increases of 12 percent each year at the community and technical colleges; 16 percent each year at the University of Washington, Washington State University and Western Washington University; 14 percent at Central Washington University and The Evergreen State College; and 11 percent at Eastern Washington University. And all but the community and technical colleges can raise tuition more, with some conditions attached.

Earl said the community and technical colleges board will meet in late June to decide tuition rates. Average annual tuition for a full-time student is $3,100. If the board increases it the full amount it’s allowed, that would jump to $3,900 in 2013.

“Of course there’s a lot of pressure on the colleges to want as much tuition revenue as is reasonable because of the level of reduction in state funding,” he said.

The state is cutting the system’s funding from $669 million in 2011 to $585 million in 2013.

While Earl said he was pleased that lawmakers are giving schools more flexibility in how they use their smaller budgets, he said the cuts likely will mean staff reductions. And employees are taking a pay cut, as the budget calls for state employee pay to be reduced 3 percent.

High demand

In the past three years, enrollment has risen 15 percent to 18 percent, “mostly as a response to the economy,” Earl said. “I was just talking to a couple of presidents this morning, and their summer enrollments are high again, and their enrollments for fall quarter are at a faster clip than last year, which was a record year.”

The high demand comes as the number of student slots is expected to drop from about 163,000 full-time equivalents this year to about 151,000 by the end of 2013 because of the budget cuts, Earl said.

He offered this advice for students: “The colleges will do everything possible to keep their promises to existing students. We don’t want to not have a place for somebody who’s already started and is making progress in the programs. But for anybody new, get admitted and registered as soon as possible.”

‘Unusual times’

The UW, meanwhile, said that the budget cuts $207 million, or nearly a third, from its state funding base.

“It is hard to express satisfaction with a budget that removes another third of the University’s state appropriation, bringing it to just half of what it was three years ago,” UW Interim President Phyllis Wise wrote on her blog. “But these are unusual times, and to its credit, the Legislature did much to try to soften the blow and enable us to manage our resources in more efficient, targeted ways. … As the burden of paying for college has shifted from the state to students and their families, making sure that Washington’s citizens continue to have access to quality education is our core responsibility as a public institution.”

The UW Board of Regents will discuss tuition and financial issues at its June 9 meeting.

Running Start reduced

Even students trying to get ahead with college will be affected by the new budget. Funding for Running Start—which lets high school juniors and seniors attend community colleges and other post-secondary schools and earn credits at both schools simultaneously—is being cut back.

Previously, students could enroll full time in both programs and were considered 2.0 full-time equivalents, with their tuition paid. Now, they will be limited to 1.2 FTEs, so if they still want to be enrolled full time in college, they’ll have to pay for the remaining 0.8 FTE, the community colleges’ Earl said. The cut is expected to mean a drop of 680 student FTEs per year across the state, according to budget documents. The community and technical colleges are expected to enroll a minimum of 11,558 Running Start students in each of the next two years.