Governor signs bill establishing new Student Achievement Council

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed legislation today creating the new Student Achievement Council. The law transfers many responsibilities of the Higher Education Coordinating Board, including its current staff, to the new cabinet-level agency effective July 1, 2012.

The Student Achievement Council will provide planning, analysis and administrative oversight for a wide range of activities related to public and private higher education in Washington, as well as take on a new role developing more effective policies to guide and monitor the success of K-12 student transition to higher education.

A primary goal for the council will be to raise educational attainment in Washington, which lags most states in the percentage of its younger citizens who have earned a postsecondary certificate or an associate, bachelor’s, or advanced degree.

The legislation, HB 2483, provides the following over-arching goals:

• To propose to the Governor and the Legislature goals for increasing educational attainment in Washington, recommend the resources necessary to achieve the goals, and monitor progress toward meeting the goals;
• To propose to the Governor, the Legislature, and the state’s educational institutions, improvements and innovations needed to continually adapt the state’s educational institutions to evolving educational attainment needs; and
• To advocate for higher education through various means, with the goal of educating the general public on the economic, social and civic benefits of postsecondary education, and the consequent need for increased financial support and civic commitment in the state.

The law requires the council to link the work of educational programs, schools, and the institutions from secondary through postsecondary education and training and through careers. It requires heightened collaboration with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the State Board of Education, the Professional Educator Standards Board, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), the four-year public institutions of higher education, and independent universities, colleges, and private career schools.

The HECB, a 10-member citizen board formed in 1986, will be replaced by a nine-member council composed of five citizen members, including one student, and four sector representatives, one each from the public four-year institutions, the SBCTC, the independent  institutions, and OSPI.  

Among the many duties assigned to the new council is the continuing responsibility to administer state financial aid programs, which provide more than $300 million annually in state support to more than 100,000 students, most of whom are from the state’s lowest-income families.

A high priority for Gov. Gregoire, the law establishing the new council won bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate during the 2012 Legislative Session.  Rep. Larry Seaquist and Sen. Derek Kilmer sponsored House and Senate versions of the bill.

Don Bennett, executive director of the HECB, will continue in that capacity during the transition to the new council, providing leadership for realignment of current and continuing responsibilities to support the expanded mission of raising educational attainment and improving K-12-higher education student transition.

News Release: HECB to consider institutional authorization rule changes in March 29 meeting

OLYMPIA – During a conference call meeting on Thursday March 29, the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) will consider proposed rule changes related to higher education institutions that must obtain Board authorization to operate in Washington.

The proposed rules would increase fees for initial degree authorization, degree authorization renewal and degree authorization reapplication.  The rules also would establish fees for new program applications and new site applications, and create definitions for a “new program application” and “new site application.”

The Washington Degree-Granting Institutions Act (RCW 28B.85) requires institutions to seek authorization unless specifically exempted from the requirement. Public institutions, longstanding private institutions and schools that exclusively offer religious training are among those exempted from the requirement.

Last year, the Legislature allowed the HECB to eliminate unnecessary barriers to the delivery of online, competency-based education by Western Governor University-Washington.  Consistent with that legislation, WGU- Washington has been granted a temporary waiver from the authorization requirement of the Degree-Granting Institutions Act.  The proposed rules include language to allow a specific exemption category for schools that receive legislative recognition as Washington schools, provided the schools comply with all conditions established by the Legislature.

The proposed rules also add clarifying language to assist stakeholders in understanding Washington requirements for degree-granting institutions. No comments were received on the proposed rule revisions during a public hearing in January.

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

To listen to the meeting:

Phone: 1-877-668-4490

Access code:  572 909 365

Higher education funding drops while enrollments keep going up, new national report says

At a time when state budget cuts to Washington’s public higher education system have exceeded the national average, full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment has been growing faster than the national average, a new report by a national organization of state higher education executives indicates.

Revenue from increased student tuition rates has offset some of the cuts in higher education appropriations in Washington, the report from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) shows. But total per-FTE funding, the sum of tuition and state support, has not kept pace with enrollment growth, the report indicates.

In Washington, total inflation-adjusted educational revenues per-FTE dropped more than 21 percent between 2006 and 2011—from $7,111 to $5,606.  Over the same period, FTE enrollment actually grew by nearly the same percentage—from 213,055 to 258,334.

Washington’s 21 percent drop in higher education appropriations over the five-year period significantly exceeded the national average decline of 12.5 percent, the report indicates.

An update to the state’s strategic master plan for higher education completed last year warned that continued state budget cuts will make it difficult if not impossible to accommodate increasing numbers of students at the state’s public institutions, raise degree production, and broadly increase educational attainment. The update outlines seven “next steps” for achieving the state goal of boosting educational attainment in Washington.

While improved efficiency in the higher education system can help ease the situation, increased enrollments in a time of reduced per student funding can make it harder for some students to get the classes they need to graduate. That in turn can further hamper the state’s efforts to increase degree production to meet workforce needs in future years.

SHEEO is a national association of chief executives of statewide governing boards and coordinating boards of postsecondary education. The new SHEEO report, “State Higher Education Finance 2011,” shows that Washington is hardly alone in efforts to meet the funding and enrollment challenge.

According to the report:

• Nationally, the number of student FTEs grew from 10.5 million in the 2007-08 academic year to 11.7 million in 2011.
• Inflation-adjusted educational revenues per student dropped 5.7 percent between 2008 and 2011 ($11,733 to 11,064).
• State and local support per student fell to $6,290 in 2011 dollars, the lowest level in the 25 years the SHEEO study has been conducted.
• Net tuition revenue per student reached $4,774 in 2011, an all-time high. Over the past 25 years, the percentage of educational revenues supported by tuition has climbed steadily from 23.2 percent in 1986 to 43.3 percent in 2011.

While higher education institutions have stretched to accommodate enrollment demand, there is evidence that rising tuition costs, inadequate financial aid and enrollment caps are starting to impact the higher education decisions of some students, said SHEEO President Paul Lingenfelter in a news release.

“While evidence of eroding educational quality is subtle and will be harder to find, such evidence will likely appear in the institutions where enrollment demand is high and resources are the most scarce,” Lingenfelter said.

While declines in per-student state funding have regularly recovered from past recessions, the current recovery may be much more difficult, Lingenfelter said.  “Parents, students, institutions, and states must make tough decisions about priorities—what investments are essential for a better future, and where can we and should we reduce spending on nonessentials in order to secure what is essential,” Lingenfelter said.

Winning videos encourage students to get in the hunt for private scholarships

Five videos by Washington high school and college students have been selected winners in a statewide contest promoting the use of scholarships to pursue educational goals after high school. 

The inaugural competition sponsored by Scholarship Junkies, the Northwest Education Loan Association and College Spark Washington garnered more than 100 entries from students who produced 60-second videos answering the question, “Why are scholarships important to you?”

The eight students who submitted the winning entries in theWashingtonBoard.org Scholarship Video Contest will share $10,000 in scholarships. The contest title refers to theWashBoard.org, a free online service that connects students to providers of private scholarship money.

The winning entries can be viewed on theWashBoard.org’s YouTube site, and links to the first-place winners have also been posted on the HECB’s YouTube site. Videos of 16 semi-finalists can be viewed on theWashBoard.org Facebook page.

Here are the names of the students, the titles of their videos, and the amount of scholarships money provided for each winning entry:

First Place—Individual

Jan Jiminez, senior, Bremerton High School, “1 + 3 = For You” $3,000.

First Place—Group

Cory Wilson, freshman; Sarah Ballard, sophomore; and Barak Glenn, freshman; Seattle Central Community College, “The Attack of the Fees” $3,000.

Runners Up—Individual

Eva Flores, senior, Walla Walla High School, “Eva’s Field of Dreams” $1,000.
Catherine Palmer, freshman, Whitworth University, “Sharing Our Light” $1,000.

Runners Up—Group

Eric Swartout and Skylar King, seniors, Eatonville High School, “TheWashboard.org Scholarship Video-Time-Lapse” $2,000.

New Student Achievement Council duties outlined in legislation passed Thursday

A bill establishing a new Student Achievement Council effective July 1, 2012 to replace the Higher Education Coordinating Board was approved by the Legislature on Thursday, the last day of the regular legislative session.

E2SHB 2483 establishes a nine-member council to provide focus and purpose for the goals of increasing educational attainment in Washington, including transitions from secondary to postsecondary and between and among postsecondary institutions.

Many of the HECB’s duties and functions, as well as current staff, are carried forward to the new council. The bill gives the Governor authority to appoint five citizen council members and to appoint the executive director from a list of three candidates submitted by the council.

The five citizen council members appointed by the Governor will have experience and knowledge of higher education. One citizen member is to be a student who will serve a one-year term. The rest of the council members will serve four-year terms.

Also serving on the council will be a representative from the four-year public universities chosen by the presidents of those institutions and a representative of the state’s community and technical college system chosen by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

 A representative of an independent, nonprofit higher education institution selected by an association of independent non-profit institutions, and a representative of the state’s K-12 system selected by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in consultation with the Department of Early Learning and the state Board of Education round out the membership.

The mission and purpose of the council is to:

·         Propose to the Governor and Legislature goals for increasing educational attainment in Washington, recommend the resources necessary to achieve the goals, and monitor progress toward meeting the goals.

·         Propose to the Governor and the Legislature and the state’s educational institutions improvements and innovations needed to adapt the state’s educational institutions to evolving educational needs.

·         Advocate for higher education through various means, with the goal of educating the general public on the economic, social and civic benefits of postsecondary education and the consequent need for increased financial support.

The bill also creates a joint higher education committee of the Legislature to review the work of the Student Achievement Council and to provide legislative feedback, engage with the council and the higher education community on creating greater communication, coordination, and alignment between the system and expectations of the Legislature, and to provide recommendations for higher education policy.

Opportunity Scholarship program receiving applications through April 16

The Washington State Opportunity Scholarship program is accepting applications from low- and middle-income students in Washington who plan to pursue four-year degrees in high demand fields, including science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health care.

The new program was established by the Legislature and Governor last year to help students in eligible income categories attain bachelor’s degrees in fields that are expected to see continued high demand for college graduates in the years ahead.

The state allocated $5 million in seed money, while the Boeing Co. and Microsoft have contributed $50 million for the program. In compliance with last year’s legislation, the HECB has contracted with the private, non-profit College Success Foundation to manage the program.

Three thousand Opportunity Scholarships will be awarded for the 2012-13 academic year. Each annual scholarship will total $1,000 and will be renewed in successive years for students who make satisfactory academic progress and meet other requirements.  For new freshmen, the maximum eligibility is five years, and the total maximum award for each applicant is $5,000.

To meet eligibility requirements for the scholarship, a student must:

·         Be high school senior or college undergraduate this first year;

·         Be a Washington state resident who has or will receive a high school diploma or GED in the state;

·         Plan to attend college full time next school year;

·         Intend to complete a bachelor’s degree at an eligible Washington college or university (if attending a community or technical college, must be committed to transferring later to a four-year institution);

·         Meet academic requirements;

·         Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and meet family-income requirements. 

The scholarship application deadline is April 16 at 5 p.m.  A full list of requirements, applications and other information is available at http://www.waopportunityscholarship.org/.

House and Senate budgets differ on amounts cut from higher education

The House and Senate continued to wrangle over the 2012-13 supplemental budget this week, with cuts to higher education one element of contention.

In a dramatic move Saturday, March 3, Senate Republicans, joined by three Democrats, passed by one vote a budget that differed substantially from the one approved earlier in the week by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

That initial Senate budget proposal, which contained no appropriations cuts for higher education, had been applauded by college and university presidents throughout the state, whose institutions have been hit hard by successive budget cuts since the state’s financial crisis began in 2008.

The version that passed the Senate on Saturday, however, would cut higher education appropriations 1.4 percent, or about $37.5 million from the original 2011-13 biennial budget.  The proposed House budget, passed Feb. 29, would cut higher education funding 2.1 percent, or about $59 million from the original biennial budget.

Details of how the cuts would be apportioned by institution are available in a table prepared by the Higher Education Coordinating Board. The original 2011-13 biennial budget appropriated a total of $2.75 billion for higher education.

It remains to be seen what the final budget will look like. The House and Senate budget bills (ESHB 2127 and ESB 5967) are now in the Ways and Means Committees of the opposite chambers, where a compromise is being sought prior to the Thursday adjournment deadline for the regular legislative session.

Last week, when the initial Senate budget was proposed, University of Washington President Michael Young said in a statement posted on the UW website: “The Senate [Ways & Means Committee chair’s] budget proposal released today puts a halt to four years of public disinvestment in higher education.  The Senate is to be commended to taking this bold stance.”

 A statement posted Monday by Elson Floyd, president of Washington State University, struck a cautious note and underscored the institution’s strong ties to legislators on both sides of the aisle. 

“We will work closely with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to promote a budget that protects, to the greatest extent possible, funding for our students and our university and a budget that places our state on a solid financial footing for the future,” Floyd’s statement said.

The Senate budget would levy proportionally larger cuts in the UW and WSU budgets as offsets to increased non-resident tuition revenue, cuts to the UW College of the Environment and WSU’s College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Resources, and a $5 million transfer from each to the State Toxics Control Account.

A statement posted Monday by The Evergreen State College noted that the Senate supplemental budget also includes reduced authority to waive tuition as one alternative to awarding student financial aid. That budget provision is contingent upon passage of separate legislation, SB 6617, which would limit tuition waivers to no more than 16 percent of gross authorized operating fees at the UW, and lower percentages at the other baccalaureate institutions. That bill filed, Feb. 27, currently is in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

The Senate budget would cut general fund appropriations for the state’s community and technical colleges by about $20 million less than the House budget version, but CTCs would also see their authority to waive tuition reduced by about $13 million. 

The budget that passed the Senate Saturday provides funding for student financial aid at basically the same level as the version proposed by the Senate Ways & Means Committee, including no cuts the State Need Grant Program and no suspension of the State Work Study program. 

The Senate supplemental budget also would provide an additional $3.8 million to both the UW and WSU to expand enrollments in engineering programs at the institutions.