University Offers Legislators A No-cost Solution To WSU Tri-Cities Funding Inequity. WSU Tri-Cities receives about $1,500 to $2,000 less per student from the state than other branch campuses with similar programs across Washington. The poor funding has restricted the campus growth and its ability to reconfigure its instructional programs to respond to the educational demand in Pasco, Kennewick, Richland and surrounding areas created by the changing Hanford workforce. As the campus works to put more emphasis on programs like business and teacher education, it finds it has less state funding per contracted student than any other branch campus in the state. The state calculates there are 596 full time students enrolled at WSU Tri-Cities this year, that is 158 students less than the enrollment target set by the Legislature.
Perceived Enrollment Shortfall Threatens Tri-Cities Budget. Some legislators have proposed that funding for 158 students be taken away from Tri-Cities, since it has not met the state enrollment target of 754. WSU has revised its enrollment estimates for Pullman, Vancouver and Spokane campuses, (returning funding for 200 students to the state Legislature to address other higher education budget priorities and more realistically project the proposed growth at those campuses.) However, WSU is strongly urging lawmakers to take a closer look at the Tri-Cities budget, where it believes funding adjustments are unwarranted. The state provides $5.134 million for students at WSU Tri-Cities. If the campus had met its target of 754 students, it would do so on a budget of $6,809 per student. WSU is arguing that it is not surprising that the Legislature`s budget of $5.134 million generated programs for 594 students at WSU Tri-Cities. That budget represents an average expenditure of $8,650 per student. An expenditure of $8,650 per student is almost exactly the average of funding at WSU Vancouver, the University of Washington-Tacoma campus, and the University of Washington-Bothell campus. The bottom line is, WSU Tri-Cities has received enough state funding for 594 students, not 754.
The Solution Has No Impact on the Budget. By simply correcting the WSU Tri-Cities enrollment target (from 754 to 594), without adjusting funding, WSU Tri-Cities will begin receiving the same level of funding per student ($8,650) as other campuses. In future years, the campus will be able to submit budget requests for enrollment growth and meet its target without perceived enrollment shortfalls.
What Caused The Tri-Cities Budget Gap? WSU Tri-cities grew out of a consortium of state institutions known as the "Tri-City University Center." The TUC relied heavily on adjunct part-time instructors borrowed from corporations operating in the Tri-Cities. When the WSU branch campus was created in Richland, the inadequate budget of the TUC became the base budget for WSU Tri-Cities operations. No funding was provided to bring these under-funded TUC programs up to quality university levels.
With Adequate Funding Per Student, WSU Tri-Cities Has a Bright Future. The economy of Tri-Cities is once again stabilized from a Hanford workforce decline from 19,000 to 9,700 employees in the past three years. Enrollments at Columbia Basin College are up and WSU Tri-Cities is expected to play a critical role in diversifying the economy of Eastern Washington`s second largest metropolitan area. Local corporations, such as CH2M Hill and Yakima Federal Savings & Loan are making hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment to the WSU branch campus.
Branch Campus Funding Averages- WSU and UW Branch Comparisons
Fiscal Year 2000 Budgeted Amounts
| Campus | State Funding | Budgeted FTE | State$/FTE |
| WSU-Spokane* | $6,702,000 | 472 | $14,199 |
| WSU-Vancouver | 8,537,000 | 1,021 | 8,361 |
| UW-Bothell | 8,617,000 | 993 | 8,678 |
| UW Tacoma | 10,147,000 | 1,143 | 8,878 |
| WSU Tri-Cities | 5,234,000 | 754 | 6,809 |
| WSU Tri-Cities (Proposed) | 5,134,000 | 594 | 8,650 |
| Vancouver/Bothell/Tacoma Average | 9,100,000 | 1,052 | $8,650 |
*WSU Spokane offers only graduate and professional programs, so the funding reflects
those higher-cost programs and is not comparable to the programs offered at
the other branch campuses. |
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