TUITION LEGISLATION INTRODUCED TO
PROMOTE INTERSTATE DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMS - HB 2030
House Higher Education Chairman
Don Carlson, R-Vancouver, dropped a WSU request bill into the
hopper Friday which will expand technology-based distance learning
higher education programs for Washington residents through consortium
arrangements with other states. WSU requested the legislation
on behalf of President Sam Smith, who is Washington State's representative
to the Western Governor's University. The program involves Washington
and 12 other states which have all signed agreements to participate.
This bill, HB 2030, provides resident tuition rates to out-of-state
consortium students. Passage of the bill will allow other states
to reciprocate and provide Washington students with programs at
the same tuition rate offered to that state's residents.
LEGISLATURE MAY RAISE RESIDENT TUITION
4 PERCENT EACH YEAR
It
now appears that both Senate and House Higher Education Committees
will pass legislation calling for a 4 percent per year increase
in tuition for resident undergraduate students. That's considerably
more than the freeze on tuition increases for 1997-98 and a 3
percent increase for 1998-99 supported by the Washington Student
Lobby and Washington State University. Four percent is
less than the 5 percent per year increase urged by the University
of Washington.
The 4 percent number is contained
in a comprehensive proposal floated late last week by Senate
Higher Education Chair Jeannette Wood. However, Wood's proposal
would cap tuition increases unless there are proportional increases
in state spending for higher education. For instance, it says
tuition cannot be more than 45 percent of the costs per student
at the research universities. Currently, WSU and UW resident
undergrad students pay 46 percent of the cost of instruction.
Wood is considering other innovative provisions to her bill including
tying state funding to official enrollment projects, creating
a guarantee that a minimum number of new students will be fully-funded
as demand increases.
In the House, it appears that the
House Bill 1662 endorsed by WSU and the Washington Student Lobby
will be the vehicle for the tuition increase advanced by House
Higher Education Chairman Don Carlson, R-Vancouver. But again,
the bill will be amended to include tuition rates that WSU and
WSL cannot support. In its original form supported by WSU, the
bill was sponsored by Rep. Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia. The bill
contains a requirement that the state general tax support for
higher education also change to reflect increases in tuition.
The bill still has a long way to go in the House, where Appropriations
Chairman Tom Huff, R-Gig Harbor, has been supportive of the
UW proposals.
WSU maintains that low tuition
is the best form of financial aid and remains concerned that tuition
has increased from $914 in 1990 to $1,571 today for resident undergraduates.
All of the state's public institutions are reporting that non-resident
enrollments are disappointing following last year's hike in tuition.
LEGISLATURE CONSIDERING ADDING STUDENT
REPRESENTATION TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS
A hearing on Monday in the Senate
Higher Education Committee on Senate Bill 5517 would add a student
member to the boards of regents or trustees at the state's higher
education institutions. That means a tenth member would be added
to the WSU Board of Regents that would be required to be
a WSU student and would serve for a one-year term. Similar proposals
have been pushed by student groups for decades and have been consistently
unsuccessful in the Washington Legislature. However, the issue
is popular with this new Legislature and is considered a serious
proposal to acknowledge the importance of any university's number
one interest group - students. WSU has very grave concerns about
the legislation. Requiring representation from any specific interest
group is destined to bring about a radical change in the university's
governance. It seems likely that if a student is added to the
board, that future Legislatures will choose to add faculty, alumni,
research, business, and even agricultural commodity groups to
the board. The university's extensive committee structure, balanced
with faculty and students, may have to be re-examined if the bill
succeeds. While enjoying support from student lobbyists, the
bill has drawn opposition from WSU student government presidents.
Matt Caires, president of the Associated Students of Washington
State University, and Oliver Bangera, of the WSU Graduate and
Professional Students Association, have come out against the legislation.
They express concern that a gubernatorial-appointed student regent
could weaken the importance of an elected student government.
In the push for student regents, student groups have so far cited
no examples of where the WSU Board of Regents has failed to consider
student views.
WSU REQUEST LEGISLATION ON TRUST
LANDS INTRODUCED
Legislation ending the Department of
Natural Resource's practice of charging the same fees for management
of each timber trust, and discontinuing the illegal practice of
charging fees for WSU's agricultural trust, has been introduced
in each house. House Bill 1880 is sponsored by House Agriculture
Chair Gary Chandler. On the Senate side, SB 5826 is sponsored
by Sen. Bob Morton.
