Meeting Demand

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1998 Report to the State

Included on this page:: Distance Learning; UW Tacoma: Teaching Teachers; New Programs for Professionals

For the state and the UW, a steep climb in demand for higher education has begun.

The class of 2012: When it's their turn, will there be room?

In autumn 1997, the University of Washington enrolled the largest freshman class in its history. That class--numbering just over 4,500--was larger by almost 900 students than the one that had entered only five years earlier.
Enrollments at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma also set records in autumn 1997, topping 1,000 for the first time at both campuses. Each opened in 1990 with fewer than 200 students.
Applications for the UW's 1998 freshman class set another record: 13,326, up 3.5 percent from the year before.

In these numbers, state forecasts are becoming facts. Demand for higher education is growing. The reasons are clear:

Washington's population growth is among the highest in the nation, and the "baby-boom echo" means even faster growth in the college-age population.
More and more of these young people go to college. Nationally, a record 67 percent of 1997 high-school graduates continued their schooling in the fall. In today's "knowledge economy," a high-school diploma opens few doors.
That same economy requires adults to retool, upgrade, even re-invent themselves to keep pace with a rapidly changing workplace. One-quarter of American college students today are over 30; one-third of all adults are currently involved in some kind of part-time education, and more than a third of those adults already have bachelor's degrees.

In 1995 the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) set a goal of increasing the system's capacity by 84,000 full-time-equivalent students (FTE's) by 2010. For the University of Washington, that goal translates as follows:

UW Enrollment, Current and Projected, in FTE's
	1997-98	2009-10
Seattle	32,004	38,410
Bothell	805	6,345
Tacoma	848	7,745
Total University	33,658	52,500

Getting from here to there requires careful planning and steady, year-by-year progress.

It means tracking students'--and society's--demand for programs and majors, so that funding for new enrollments can expand teaching capacity where it is most needed.
It means coordinated planning for all three campuses, so that each campus channels growth into programs best suited to its clientele, community, and mission.
For all three campuses, but especially for Bothell and Tacoma, it means new buildings, ready on schedule.

UW Bothell: The Right Stuff

With interruptions for four children, Marysville resident Angela Druckman earned a degree from Everett Community College and then looked around for a place to continue her studies in computer science. Long commutes and high tuition were not options: "I'm willing to make sacrifices, but there's a certain priority when you have a family." By happy coincidence, the UW Bothell program in computing software and systems was just being launched, and Angela became one of its first students. "For me, it was just right. There's an excellent blend of academic stuff and real-world stuff--we're always asking, `How can I use this?'" With one more quarter to go (which will also be her son's first quarter in the program), Angela plans to find a job in one of the local high-tech firms: "In systems analysis--the area I enjoy--you don't have the luxury of thinking narrowly. Because the program here is so broad, I've had a chance to hone all those skills."

These are the principles behind the UW's 1999-2001 budget request for enrollment growth. Over the two-year period, we propose adding 1600 new FTE students.

At the undergraduate level, the UW would add 500 FTE's in Seattle, 240 in Bothell, and 300 in Tacoma. Seattle would increase access to such high-demand majors as computer science and engineering and business administration. Bothell and Tacoma would grow all their programs, adding (in Bothell) a day component to the computing and software systems program and (in Tacoma) a new business concentration in information technology.

UW Tacoma

At the graduate level, enrollment would increase by 400 FTE's in Seattle, 60 in Bothell, and 100 in Tacoma. Seattle would expand access to several high-demand professional master's-degree programs. Bothell expects growth in its Master's in Education for teachers, and Tacoma will add a Master's in Management/Leadership.

The past two legislatures have funded increased UW enrollments to help meet the state's access challenge. Even so, admission to the UW is growing more competitive.

Because more freshmen than expected enrolled in 1997, the class admitted in 1998 had to be smaller to fit within biennial funding limits. With applications up and class size down, the UW had to turn away students who in previous years would have made the cut. Last year, an "Admissions Index" (derived from high-school grades plus test scores) of 60 guaranteed admission for state residents; this year the number was 66. Unless the state invests in steady enrollment growth, getting into the UW will keep getting harder.

Educated citizens are the state's greatest resource. Growing this resource benefits everyone--the individuals who gain opportunity and fulfillment, the society that flourishes from their achievements. The demand for education is there. The UW requests funding to take the next step in meeting that demand.

Distance Learning

For most students, learning on a campus, side-by-side with other students and professors, remains the education of choice. But distance learning, using various forms of technology, is a valuable option for some students and some programs. In Seattle, the UW now offers three degrees through distance learning and will develop six more within the next two years. In 1997-98, UW distance learning (including non-degree programs) had more than 7,500 enrollments. Other ways in which the UW is meeting the demand for educational choice include the evening degree program (22 graduate and undergraduate degrees, 1,000 students annually) and certificate programs (more than 60 programs, double the number offered four years ago).

UW Tacoma: Teaching Teachers

Paul Elery grew up in Tacoma, went away for college, and came back to teach fifth grade at Brookdale Elementary School. When he was ready for a master's degree in education, the goal wasn't just a credential but "making myself a better teacher--broadening, sharpening, fine-tuning my teaching skills." Brookdale Elementary, near McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis, serves a mainly low-income and highly transient student population, and Paul wanted help with the challenge of teaching these kids. A colleague who'd just earned an M.Ed. at UW Tacoma gave it high marks, and Paul and another Brookdale teacher went through the program together. "It was amazing--way better than my undergraduate work. There was more intellectual content and a more practical orientation. We were applying things in the classroom right from the start." Paul's enthusiasm has now brought another Brookdale teacher--the fourth in this small school--into the M.Ed. program at UWT.

New Programs for Professionals

The UW enrolls almost two-thirds of the graduate and professional students (by FTE's) attending public institutions in this state. While maintaining its traditional strengths--world-class Ph.D. programs, the only medical school in a five-state region--the UW is creating an array of new master's programs in new formats, to meet the changing needs of students and employers. A few examples: the Master's in Computer Science and Engineering (1996), an "accessible" part-time program to help computer professionals stay up-to-date; the Master's in Industrial Engineering (1998); and the Distance Learning Master of Social Work (1997), responding to requests from Olympic Peninsula residents.

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