Wild first day of special session brings pleas from education and social service advocates

The story told by a 20-year-old Seattle Central Community College student perhaps best illustrates the points made by advocates for both education and social services at a boisterous public hearing Monday on the Governor’s supplemental budget proposal.

Jessica Foster told members of the House Ways & Means Committee she grew up making weekly trips to the food bank for groceries. The first home the family owned was provided by Habitat for Humanity. As a child, she received medical coverage under the state’s Basic Health Plan, but she has since been dropped and is now uninsured.    

However, Foster said she didn’t come to the hearing to tell the committee a “sob story.”  She also wanted it put on the record that she has a 3.7 grade point average in college and is one quarter away from earning an associate degree in elementary education. That will be the highest level of educational attainment anyone in her family has ever achieved.

Foster works full time to cover college costs not provided by student financial aid and scholarships. Even so, she said, she’s unsure if she’ll be able to afford the bachelor’s and master’s degrees that are her next steps toward an eventual teaching certificate in Washington.

“I don’t want to be a millionaire, but I want to be a teacher who changes lives,” Foster said. Some of the social service programs that are now on the “chopping block” make it possible for people like her to strive for a better way to live, she said.

“By investing in K through 12 and higher education—community colleges especially—you are investing in your future because I am your future,” she added.

The all-cuts supplemental budget proposed by the Governor addresses a projected $1.4 billion drop in state revenue by reducing state spending another $2 billion over the remainder of the 2011-13 biennium. The reductions include a $160.1 million cut for public colleges and universities, and suspension of the State Work Study program for low-income students, saving about $8 million. 

The Governor’s budget director, Marty Brown, on Monday called the budget proposal a choice of “least-worst alternatives.”  To buy back some of the proposed cuts—including the reduction for public colleges and universities—the Governor has proposed a temporary half-cent increase in the state sales tax. The increase would have to be approved by either the Legislature or the voters.

Representatives of the state’s two-year and four-year public colleges and universities also spoke Monday against additional cuts to higher education. They said those reductions would further reduce access to higher education at a time when the state needs more highly educated workers to fill many jobs that currently go unfilled, even in today’s down economy.

They said additional cuts in appropriations would come on top of nearly a 50 percent reduction in state higher education funding since the recession began. The new budget reductions would raise that to about 65 percent.

The additional reductions in state support could increase pressure on colleges and universities to raise tuition, further reducing affordability for many low- and middle-income students in Washington. 

Proposed higher ed cuts could be avoided through revenue measures suggested by Governor

With the Legislature set to begin work next Monday on fixes to the state budget, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday offered a supplemental budget proposal that would cut additional millions in state support for higher education and suspend funding for the State Work Study (SWS) program during FY 2012.

The Governor’s plan for responding to a projected $1.4 billion revenue shortfall for the remainder of the biennium also would cut additional millions from K-12, health and human services, and corrections.

While the Governor’s budget proposal assumes no new sources of revenue, she acknowledged that program cuts of the magnitude she is proposing “would do serious damage to the state’s safety net and jeopardize our students’ future.” Therefore, she asked the Legislature to consider approving or asking voters to approve a number of revenue-generating options, including a public vote on a temporary half-cent increase in the state sales tax. That would raise an additional $494 million through June 30, 2013.

Among other things, the additional sales tax money would be used to prevent an additional $160 million reduction in state support for the state’s six public four-year colleges and universities, and 34 community and technical colleges. 

Other potential revenue-generating options would restore additional cuts based upon a priority list offered by the Governor. The list includes restoration of approximately $8 million for the SWS program.

Suspending the SWS program would mean that approximately 3,500 low- and middle-income college students in Washington would lose annual paychecks averaging $3,000—money they use to pay their college expenses. Nearly 2,000 Washington employers would be forced to look for other ways to make up for the loss of productivity they generated by SWS employees.

The HECB has posted additional information about the impacts of suspending the SWS program.

Former student describes how further reductions in SWS could impact college plans

In an opinion piece published in the Olympian last weekend, Lacey resident Juliette Knight described how additional cuts to student financial aid programs could impact the college plans of many students.  Knight, a former State Work Study (SWS) employee, wrote in support of the SWS program, which has been proposed for suspension to help offset a $1.4 billion state revenue shortfall for the remainder of the biennium.  

“The program is a win-win for students,” Knight wrote.  “First, work study recipients benefit because they are able to pay a portion of their way through college and reduce reliance on school loan borrowing.  Second, the work experience gained is invaluable in preparing for full-time entry into the work force.”

Suspension of SWS would reduce the current budget hole by $8 million, according to figures released earlier by the Governor’s office and the Office of Financial Management. However, suspension also would mean that an estimated 3,500 low- and middle-income students would lose annual paychecks averaging $3,000 per year—money they use to help pay their college expenses.

At a time when many businesses are struggling, about 2,000 employers also would lose millions of hours in employee productivity through the loss of SWS employees. 

Foreign students find Washington a good place to earn a college degree

The number of foreign students attending Washington’s colleges and universities is on the rise, with China topping the list of countries whose students come here to study, according to a report issued Monday by the Institution of International Education (IIE).  

Nationally, foreign students are attending U.S. institutions in record numbers, according to the IIE report.

During the 2010-11 academic year, Washington ranked 11^th among all states and the District of Columbia in the number of foreign students attending higher education institutions.  The state hosted 17,811 from other countries during the year, an increase of 8.3 percent, the IIE report stated.

Foreign-student enrollments still represent a small percentage of the state’s overall student enrollment.  In fall 2010, more than 386,000 students were enrolled full- or part-time in Washington’s two-and four-year public colleges and universities, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Education and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. 

Both nationally and in Washington State, China topped the list of countries providing foreign students, accounting for nearly 22 percent of Washington’s foreign-student population. Other nations with strong student representation here were South Korea (13.5 percent), Vietnam (9.4 percent), and Japan (8.5 percent).

The University of Washington led the list of Washington institutions with the highest foreignstudent enrollments, followed by Washington State University, Green River Community College, Seattle Central Community College and Edmonds Community College. Nearly 18 percent of this year’s UW freshman class is from another country, according to an article in today's Seattle Times.

Ross Jennings, an associate vice president at Green River Community College, suggested in the Times article that some foreign students may be attracted to Washington’s community and technical colleges when they learn that two-year institutions—which are unknown in other parts of the world—offer a doorway to the state’s baccalaureate institutions. 

Whatever the reasons foreign students are coming here, colleges and universities—as well as the state as a whole—benefit economically from their presence. Foreign students pay out-of-state tuition, which is $27,707 for an undergraduate attending the UW Seattle this year, compared to $10,223 for a resident undergraduate student.

Some see the higher-paying foreign students as helping subsidize resident students at a time when colleges and universities are significantly increasing tuition rates in response to cuts in state funding for higher education.     

Like resident students, foreign students also boost the state economy through their spending on such necessities as room and board, books, supplies, and transportation.  The IIE study estimated foreign students contributed $21 billion to the U.S. economy, including $463.7 million in spending in Washington State.

News Release: Action on Strategic Master Plan update expected at HECB’s Nov. 17 meeting in Bothell

OLYMPIA – The Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) will be asked to review and approve an update of the state’s Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education when it meets Thursday, Nov. 17 at the University of Washington Bothell. 

The Board also will hold a work session on the plan update at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16 at the UWB.

The plan update, required by law, will focus on how to continue specific strategies in the current strategic plan to improve student preparation and success, incent innovative program development, and maintain affordability during a period of deep budget cuts.

The 2008 Strategic Master Plan, endorsed by the Legislature, set ambitious goals for increasing educational attainment, promoting economic growth, and strengthening institutional accountability over a 10-year period.  Adoption of the plan committed the state to make significant new investments in higher education to accomplish these and other key goals.  

Shortly after the master plan was approved, however, the national recession led to broad funding cuts across all levels of government, including higher education. As a result, institutions have been forced to reduce student services, increase class sizes, increase tuition, eliminate degree programs, and lay off staff and faculty – all during a period of record enrollment demand.

Despite these challenges, and criticism from some quarters that long-range planning has lost its relevance, those responsible for the plan update – the citizen HECB, its staff, and an advisory committee composed of education stakeholders – have emphasized that now more than ever the state needs to continue planning to ensure future generations of students have access to an affordable public higher education system.

Among other things, the advisory committee has recommended the state establish a clearer picture of the overall progress being made toward accomplishing key strategic goals, and do a better job explaining the value the state and its citizens gain by achieving those goals.

The Nov. 17 master plan discussion will be introduced by HECB Executive Director Don Bennett, who will provide:

·         an overview of the master plan update effort;

·         its context in relation to the state’s fiscal situation; and

·         its linkages to other related state-level higher education developments.

Work under way by the Higher Education Steering Committee, a group chaired by the Governor to recommend the role and composition of a new Council for Higher Education to replace the HECB next July, will be summarized.

Jan Ignash, HECB Deputy Director for Policy, Planning and Research, will lead a panel discussion with members of the plan update advisory committee including a presentation on recommended next steps.   

The Nov. 17 meeting also will feature a presentation on the Passport to College Promise program, a six-year pilot program to help former foster youth prepare for and successfully complete higher education programs. Because of childhood problems and other factors, foster youth are considered among the most disadvantaged groups in terms of achieving the benefits of higher education. 

The Legislature requested a status report on the extent to which the Passport program is helping foster youth participate and persist in postsecondary education.  The program is now in its fourth year.

Briefing materials for the meeting are available at: www.hecb.wa.gov/AboutTheHECB/MeetingMaterials.

New report highlights concern over growing student debt

The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) today released a national report on student debt that ranks Washington 31st among states in the amount of debt owed by students in the Class of 2010, who graduated from four-year public and private nonprofit colleges. The report does not include private, for-profit institutions whose students often incur even higher levels of debt.

According to the institute’s Project on Student Debt, Washington graduates from participating institutions had an average debt load of $22,101 in 2010.  Debt levels varied depending upon the institution. 

“Student debt continues to rise, but debt levels vary tremendously from school to school and state to state,” according to a news release statement from report author Matthew Reed.

News coverage on the TICAS report has been widely carried in the media. Nationally, concern continues to grow over rising levels of student debt—a circumstance caused in part by increasing tuition costs.   

HECB staff who reviewed the TICAS report recommend some caution in interpreting the data.  One concern is that student debt information for many public and private baccalaureate institutions in the state—including Washington State University and the University of Washington’s Seattle campus—was not included in calculating the statewide average.

The report also notes that the survey of college debt levels is voluntary and not audited.  In the past, some colleges have complained that other institutions misrepresent their students’ debt loads, the report said.

Based on the student debt information gathered for the report, graduating students nationally owed an average of $25,250 in 2010
—up 5 percent from the previous year, according to the TICAS report.

The full report and a news release are available on The Project for Student debt website.

Higher education steering committee continues work

After three meetings this fall, members of a steering committee charged with recommending the role, scope and composition of a new Council for Higher Education generally agree on the key issues facing the state as it considers how to revamp its higher education oversight role. How best to address the task remains under discussion, however.

A law passed last session eliminates the HECB effective July 1, 2012, and establishes a new Council for Higher Education. It also establishes a separate Office of Student Financial Assistance to administer state financial aid programs. Financial aid administration is now housed within the HECB.

Governor Chris Gregoire, who convened and is chairing the committee, urged participants to consult individually with staff and then come to the next meeting with alternatives about who should serve on the new council, what specific issues should be addressed, and what level of staffing will be needed. 

Committee members include several presidents from the two- and four-year institutions, legislators, state education agency heads, the executive director of the State Board for Community and Technical colleges, and citizen representatives.

The next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, November 15 at the offices of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges in Olympia. Originally scheduled for November 9, the meeting was moved out a week to allow time for fully developed proposals to be drafted.

The Governor said a key question is whether the committee wants to go “broad or narrow” with respect to the CHE’s scope of responsibility. She continues to favor forming a broad P-20 education agency, responsible for creating a seamless system of accountability to improve student performance and success across all sectors.

Most of the discussion in the steering committee meetings has focused specifically on the challenge of how best to provide oversight for the state’s 34 community and technical colleges and its six public colleges and universities. Most participants have agreed that improving K-12 student preparation and transition should remain a key priority of the new council.

Other issues on which most participants agree include a continued emphasis on strategic planning, policy analysis, and system design—setting clear, relevant and achievable goals; framing higher education finance policy more strategically; and monitoring accountability for improvement.

Committee members and national consultants have generally agreed the new council needs to maintain a very high-level policy focus. This means less emphasis on preparing recurring legislative reports, approving degree programs, reviewing and recommending institutional budgets and engaging in other activities best carried out at the institutional level.

Participants noted the state will need to continue to carry out additional responsibilities now overseen by the HECB: federal and state grant administration—especially for outreach programs designed to improve college aspiration and participation, consumer protection,  institutional authorization, and leadership for cross-sector educational improvement initiatives. 

Advisory committee recommends institutions have flexibility in achieving higher education goals

Washington should continue work on key state higher education goals established in 2008, but the mission of each higher education institution should also be considered in efforts to make progress on the goals, a committee advising the HECB on its update of the state’s Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education has recommended.

Since July, the advisory committee has been at work on a list of proposed “next steps” for achieving the 2008 master plan goals, which include increasing statewide educational attainment, promoting economic growth and innovation, and emphasizing accountability for results by higher education institutions.

The advisory committee's recommendations now go the HECB, which will consider a draft update of the Strategic Master Plan at its Nov. 17 meeting.  The update will then be delivered to the Legislature and Governor.

Recent statewide discussions on higher education have focused on how to hold institutions more accountable for reaching master plan goals while giving them the flexibility to make progress within the context of their own missions and internal planning processes. One suggestion has been to provide incentive funding for achieving specific goals. 

The advisory committee also concluded the master plan needs to more clearly identify the negative impact of continuing reductions in public funding for higher education.

A presentation by Jan Ignash, HECB Deputy Director of Policy, Planning and Research, showed the state is well behind in achieving increased degree production goals outlined in the master plan.  Her full presentation has been posted on YouTube.

The master plan set a 10-year timeline (to 2018) for achieving increased degree production goals. This timeline was extended to 2030 when the full impact of the recession on state funding for higher education became apparent.   

Washington is near bottom of all states in the percentage of bachelor’s and advanced degree attainment among its citizens aged 20-34. Increasing degree production and the overall education level of the state population is seen as crucial to the states’ economic future and quality of life.

The advisory committee recommended more effort be devoted to explaining the importance of achieving higher education goals—both for individuals and for the state as a whole. For example, U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that more highly educated individuals are less likely to spend time in prison than less-educated individuals.  That data also suggests that increasing a society’s overall education level could result in fewer individuals being victimized by crime.

The advisory committee has recommended the state continue to support college outreach and preparation programs such as the College Bound Scholarship, to enable many more students to participate and succeed in postsecondary education.

 “Acceleration strategies” for both adult learners and high school students provide another way to move more students through to degrees and certificates. For example, the Launch Year Act passed by the Legislature earlier this year encourages high schools to provide more opportunities for students to earn college credit while in high school through Advanced Placement courses, International Baccalaureate programs, and other avenues.