The University of Washington and other state universities may have the power to set some tuition rates if the Washington State Legislature follows Gov. Mike Lowry’s recommendations.
Washington is one of the few states that sets tuition by legislative action. Lowry’s proposal would change that by allowing regents to increase resident undergraduate tuition up to 6 percent per year above the current rate. Non-resident, graduate and professional student tuition could go up as much as 10 percent.
Currently, in-state, undergraduate tuition at the UW is $2,907; a 6 percent increase would be $3,082 for Fall Quarter 1995. The average at the UW’s 24 peer institutions is currently $3,403.
Republicans in the House of Representatives may have their version of a state budget out by early March. Democrats in the Senate plan to follow with their budget two or three weeks later. UW Director of Government Relations Bob Edie expects tuition reform to accompany both of these plans.
Edie says tuition reform is one step the Legislature must take if higher education is going to be on a financially sound basis under spending-limit Initiative 601. Using a formula based on inflation and population growth, the budget can only grow by 9.4 percent during 1995-97.
Gov. Lowry’s budget called for only a 3.4 percent increase at the UW, mostly for salary adjustments. If you factor out tuition increases from that proposal, adds Edie, the amount state taxpayers spend on the UW would go down 0.4 percent.
“This is a dramatic way of showing what the potential impact of 601 is on higher education,” Edie notes. “We hope the Legislature will be able to improve on the governor’s proposal and bring the University’s budget closer to the allowable 601 limit.”
For more information, contact the UWAA Legislative Support Network at (206) 543-0540 or 1-800-AUW-ALUM.