In July, the UW Board of Regents voted to raise tuition 20 percent and to increase the amount of aid available to low- and middle-income families by 45 percent, a dollar increase of $12 million. All told $38.6 million will go toward financial aid for low- and middle-income families.
The regents deemed the increase necessary considering that the state Legislature has dramatically cut funding to higher education during the Great Recession. Over the past three years, state support to the UW has fallen 50 percent.
The increase puts the total tuition and fees for one year of in-state undergraduate tuition at $10,574. Even with the increase, the UW tuition and fees remain in the bottom third of the Global Challenge State peer universities, and less than WSU’s $10,798 cost. The Husky Promise program will be preserved with more than 8,000 Washington resident-students paying no tuition or fees next year. The increase will permit reinvestment in student support services and high-demand courses to keep students on-track to graduate.