News and Updates

It is clear that a major concern of students and parents (as well as policymakers) is the growing level of debt being incurred to complete a four-year degree.

Here’s some good news from the UW.  Based on the most recent numbers:

52% of our undergraduates leave school with ZERO debt.  That’s right, ZERO debt.  Nationally, two-thirds of undergraduates leave school with college debt.

For the 48% with debt, UW average undergraduate debt loads are about $16,481, compared to the national average of $19,400.  That a difference of $3000 or 15% LOWER than the national average.

So while college requires a substantial investment by students, many UW grads are finidng their debt burden a little lighter than that of their peers.

Welcome back to Rep. Don Cox of Colfax (9th District) who was selected to replace the late Rep. Steve Hailey.  Rep. Cox is a familiar face in Olympia, having served in the House from 1999 to 2007.  His committee assignments are pending, but he may be appointed to the House Education Appropriations Committee among others.

Governor Gregoire’s proposed state stimulus package, which focuses on accelerating a number of “shovel-ready” construction projects, includes two UW facilities. (The descriptions below and cost estimates are taken from the Governor’s release).

In Seattle, the Governor includes the Molecular Engineering Building. This new facility will provide a modern learning and research environment to support interdisciplinary teaching and research in molecular engineering and related disciplines. This new building will enable students, faculty and researchers to utilize state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories. The new building will include approximately 100,000 square feet of vibration-free program space. About half of the building is envisioned to be fitted with wet laboratory space with the remaining space dedicated to dry laboratories, office and support space. This building will help maintain and attract instructors and students to keep the UW and the State of Washington at the forefront in the field of engineering and related research. $69,554,000

In Tacoma, the Governor includes “Phase III”, which will renovate the Joy Building and add a fourth floor to provide additional classroom and faculty office space to support expanded and new degree programs and will serve to transition the campus toward the new four- year curriculum. The project scope will include renovation of all major building components as well as an expanded footprint and the addition of a fourth story to provide a total of approximately 70,000 square feet of program space. The project will provide new capacity to accommodate at least 600 additional student FTEs. $34,000,000

You can find a link to the statewide list of projects here.

The goal of the plan is to focus on projects which can begin construction soon, boosting the construction sector.  Being included in the package is an important step toward seeing these projects move forward quickly.

Whew!  Every legislative session takes on a personality, and judging by the first week this one is going to be serious and fast-paced.  Mixed in with the ceremony of the opening day, the Governor’s inaugural address and the inaugural ball there were plenty of committee hearings, many focused on how the state will close a growing budget gap.

We participated in a number of hearings.  At the House Education Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, we were able to talk about the value of higher education to the citizens of the state, and to begin to spell out some of the possible implications of proposed budget cuts.

The UW continues to rank as one of the best values in public education.  We receive more federal research dollars than any other public university in the nation.  We provide a high percentage of the graduates in high-demand fields, and our students are nationally recognized.  We are also consistently rated a great value in higher education and demand for enrollment continues to increase.  You can see the list of UW achievements and contributions that we provided to the committee here.

The size of the budget cuts we face has not been seen since the early 1980s.  They will require serious changes in the way the University operates.  We are still developing our approach, and the exact changes needed will depend upon the final budget, but here are some of the possibilities we shared with the committee:

• Freezing enrollment at the Seattle campus in spring quarter.  This could affect 300 to 400 students.
• Larger class sizes
• Scaled back course offerings
• Reduced financial aid

We are asking lawmakers to provide us as much flexibility as possible to deal with the budget shortfall.  The recent reports of a drop in our endowment income makes it even more important that we are able to find cost savings wherever we can, while keeping our focus on the quality of the education we provide.

Another side of the story is the capital budget – the UW has a number of ready-to-go projects that could help provide a boost to construction spending and jobs.  We will be discussing with lawmakers ways that those projects might be accelerated to provide a more immediate impact.

Next week, there are a number of hearings we will be following.  In the Senate, the Ways and Means Committee will be taking public testimony on the Governor’s proposed budget at 3:30 on Monday and Wednesday.  Friday at 1:30 the Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee will devote its session to enrollment trends and the current fiscal crisis.  On Wednesday at 8 am, the Economic Development, Trade & Innovation committee will look at progress at commercializing university research.

On the House side the House Higher Education Committee will be briefed on performance agreements (Tuesday at 10), strategic expansion of higher education (Wed. at 1:30), and high demand enrollments (Friday at 8 am).

The only prediction we can boldly make for next week — it won’t slow down.

On Wednesday, the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee was briefed by Tim Yowell of the Senate Ways and Means Committee on the Higher Education budget.  His excellent presentation covers some of the differences among institutions in how state funds are used, trends in costs and tuition, and policy issues facing lawmakers this session.  It is well worth your time — you can download the entire report (in .pdf format) here —  Higher Ed presentation.

Recently, Western Washington University announced it will eliminate its football program to save money and preserve a number of other sports.  Some commenters have suggested other public universities might consider such a move, but today’s Seattle PI has a good story on why one size does not fit all.

At the UW, where athletics are fully supported by athletic department revenues, football is the major economic driver that helps fund many other sports.  Other state schools use a percentage of their state funding to support athletics, so their situation may differ.

Western’s decision to eliminate football caught many by surprise.  The current budget crisis will no doubt lead to more decisions one could not have envisioned even a few weeks ago — all the more reason we will be encouraging policymakers to provide flexibility for institutions to develop solutions that reflect their unique situations.

Today’s Seattle PI had a story on the Governor’s proposed budget cuts to higher education.  The headline (“Gregoire’s proposed college cuts not as deep as expected”) could leave the impression that higher education was relatively unscathed.

In reality, four year colleges received a substantially greater budget cut than community colleges, with the research universities the most affected of all.
The cuts proposed in the Governor’s budget will mean real and substantial cuts in the core services of the University.  Those services — things like enrollment levels, course offerings, and class sizes — are directly linked to the amount of budget support the UW receives through our state appropriation and tuition.

This week we will have an opportunity to begin testifying about the implications of reduced funding, beginning with tomorrow afternoon’s meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Also, congratulations and welcome to the newest member of the Higher Education Coordinating Board — former State Senator Nita Rinehart.  During her time in the Senate, Nita chaired the Ways and Means Committee.  She has been a strong supporter of higher education and is a great addition to the HEC Board.  After leaving the Senate, Nita was staff director for the Senate Democratic Caucus until she joined the faculty at The Evergreen State College where she continues to teach public policy.

Well, almost — the 2009 session actually begins Monday morning.

Early on there will be plenty of ceremony — on Monday legislators are sworn in, Tuesday lawmakers certify election results and honor former statewide elected officials, and Wednesday the Governor gives her inaugural address (the inaugural ball is held Wednesday night.)

There will also be plenty of work in the committee rooms to kick off the 2009 session.  On the budget front, the fiscal committees will dive right into the supplemental budget, with House Ways and Means starting off at 3:30 pm Monday afternoon.  At 1:30 Thursday, Senate Ways and Means will hear the higher education portion of the supplemental budget.  Lawmakers are expected to act quickly on approving supplemental spending cuts, since they will translate into savings that will apply toward the much larger budget gap for the upcoming biennium.  Thursday at 3:30 the House Capital Budget Committee will be briefed on the results of the four-year scoring process for higher education capital projects.

Not all of the focus will be on the budget — at 10 am Tuesday, the Senate Environment, Energy and Water Committee will hear a panel on sustainable design practices, including those on campus.

We will be posting the latest session news we have here.  For those who want to watch the session unfold, TVW has started a new blog that will highlight some of the key events of the week, plus upcoming guests on TVW’s interview programs.  Also, be sure to eat your Wheaties this weekend — it’s going to be a breakneck 105 days.

Public universities all around the country are facing difficult times as state policymakers weigh tuition increases, financial aid, and budget reductions.  The Chronicle of Higher Education has a story that lays out some of the approaches being considered in different states, and the competing interests at stake — it’s worth a look.

Yesterday also saw legislative leaders and representatives from the executive branch meet the press for the annual Associated Press Legislative Forum.  As expected, most of the discussion focused on the budget, with broad agreement that the current $5.7 billion gap could increase before the end of session.

Another area of broad agreement — closing the budget gap won’t get easier with time, so lawmakers will move mountains to get their work done in the 105 day regular session.

And a final area of agreement — no one is going to describe this session as fun.

This year will see 18 new members in the House, as well as 3 new Senators.  The official legislative website has a listing of the incoming class (including pictures) and who they are replacing. (Note: the document does not include a successor for Rep. Bill Grant, who passed away over the weekend).

Lawmakers will be sworn into office next week when the Legislature officially convenes for the 2009 session.