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Evergreen Presents Before House Higher Education on Expansion and Retention

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This afternoon Evergreen presented before the House Higher Education. In a focused presentation before the Committee, Provost Michael Zimmerman and Vice President Wendy Endress addressed the question posed by the Committee –  How will the College address the goals identified by the Washington Student Achievement Council in the Ten-Year Roadmap?

In December WASAC released a ten-year strategic plan for investing in and promoting access to higher education. The plan established two educational attainment goals for 2023.

  • All adults in Washington will have a high school diploma or equivalent.
  • At least 70 percent of Washington adults will have a postsecondary credential.

In the presentation Evergreen spoke to the College’s work to reach out to targeted populations to expand higher education enrollments and success. In particular Evergreen recognized the College’s work focused on expanding access to higher education to working adults and veterans, college-pipeline programs, and incarcerated youth.

In addition Evergreen highlighted specific retention initiatives that the College has implemented and show promising results, but will require additional state investment. Among the initiatives highlighted in the presentation included expansion of student orientation programming, reduced class size, the academic statement, and the Summer Undergraduate Research Program.

Evergreen was joined by colleagues from the other public baccalaureate institutions. On Friday, the Committee will hear from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and the independent colleges of Washington.

Governor Addresses State in First State of the State

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Today Governor Inslee addressed a joint session of the Legislature and Washingtonians in his first State of the State Address.

The Governor focused on a call to action to invest in education, finish work on a transportation package, and increase the minimum wage.

Inslee, on the heels of the Supreme Court order that the State did not meet the constitutional obligation in the biennial budget to adequately fund education, stated that he will release a proposal this week to make an additional investment of at least $200 million in K-12 funding, including school operations and voter-approved teacher COLAs. The Governor indicated his proposal would be offset by closing tax breaks.

In addition the Governor continued his push for a transportation package and committed to working with legislators, business, and stakeholders to increase the minimum wage.

Finally the Governor signaled forthcoming proposals to provide B&O tax relief to small businesses; health care initiatives focused on children’s health, the quality and cost of health care services, and improving mental health services; and continue efforts around climate change.

House Appropriations Holds Hearing on Supplemental Operating Budget

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The first afternoon of the 2014 session the House Appropriations Committee held a public hearing on Governor Inslee’s proposed 2014 supplemental budget.

Evergreen, along with other higher education stakeholders, testified to the impact of the supplemental budget on institutions and students.

Evergreen thanked the Legislature for the investment in higher education in the biennial budget and shared with the Committee Evergreen’s commitment to not increase tuition in either academic year of the biennium.  In addition, the College shared its support for the investment in the College Bound program and expressed concern that no investment was made to serve the 32,400 unserved, eligible students in the State Need Grant program.

In mid-December Governor Inslee released his proposed 2014 Supplemental Operating budget.

Inslee’s proposal would boost the state’s $33.6 billion dollar budget by approximately $200 million. The majority of the increase goes to “mandatory costs” including increased enrollments in public schools and more inmates in prison. Approximately a quarter of the increase ($55 million) is focused on new programs including $3 million for teacher mentoring, $7 million to deal with prison capacity, and $13 million for technology upgrades.

With regard to higher education, the supplemental budget proposed by Governor Inslee supports the investment made in higher education in the 2013-15 biennial budget and provides a good starting point for budget discussions for the 2015-17 biennium.

The budget makes a handful of investments in higher education including STEM programs for underrepresented students at the community and technical colleges ($410,000) and funds to meet the obligations for the College Bound Scholarship program ($7.2 million).  In addition the budget includes funds focused on advanced manufacturing programs and research at the University of Washington and Washington State University ($1 million).

The budget also maintains the ability for public baccalaureate institutions to raise tuition beyond appropriated tuition levels for the 2014-15 academic year. The budget includes clarifying language that underscores the requirement that institutions that raise tuition beyond appropriated levels must mitigate the impact to students with additional financial aid.

The Senate Ways & Means Committee will hold a public hearing on the Governor’s proposed supplemental budget on Wednesday.

Washington House Passes DREAM Act

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The Washington House of Representatives took action on the first piece of legislation yesterday. The House reintroduced the DREAM Act (HB 1817) and passed it off the House floor with a strong bipartisan vote (71-23).

The DREAM Act would allow the children of undocumented immigrants to be eligible to apply for college financial aid from the state.

The DREAM Act now goes to the Senate for consideration.

2014 Legislative Session Kicks-Off

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This week kicks-off the 2014 supplemental legislative session. The last few weeks suggest that this session will focus on technical changes to the biennial operating and capital budgets with a goal to leave Olympia on-time in mid-March.

The session begins with a bang as the House Appropriations Committee holds a public hearing on the Governor’s proposed supplemental budget Monday afternoon. The Senate Ways & Means Committee follows with the same agenda on Wednesday.

Both the Senate and House Higher Education Committees have a full agenda. In the House the week is focused on presentations by the Washington Student Achievement Council, the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, and the public and private baccalaureate institutions regarding their plans for expansion to meet the statewide, ten-year goals identified in the Council’s Roadmap.

In the Senate, the Committee will hold a work session focused on an overview of  state funding for higher education and financial aid programs. Later in the week the Committee will hear from institutions and agencies regarding the challenges and barriers for veterans transitioning from service to higher education and the role of prior learning in postsecondary education.

Governor Inslee Releases Supplemental Budgets

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Today Governor Inslee released a proposed 2014 Supplemental Operating and Capital budget.

The Governor’s  proposal would boost the state’s $33.6 billion dollar budget by approximately $200 million. The majority of the increase goes to maintaining current services. The major changes to maintenance level include mandatory caseload and K-12 enrollment adjustments, College Bound Scholarship program adjustments, and funds to cover wildlife costs, prison capacity problems, and a legal settlement requiring the state to significantly expand mental health services for children.

The budget also makes a handful of investments across state programs.

Higher Education

The supplemental budget proposed by Governor Inslee supports the investment made in higher education in the 2013-15 biennial budget.

The budget makes a handful of investments in higher education including $7.2 million to accommodate higher costs for the College Bound Scholarship program and $1 million to support advanced manufacturing programs and research at the University of Washington and Washington State University.

The budget also maintains the ability for public baccalaureate institutions to raise tuition beyond appropriated tuition levels for the 2014-15 academic year. The budget includes clarifying language that underscores the requirement that institutions that raise tuition beyond appropriated levels must mitigate the impact to students with additional financial aid.

Capital Budget

The Governor also proposed a supplemental capital budget for higher education. The Governor provided funding for a small number of projects across higher education. This includes authority for Evergreen to enter into a certificate of participation to purchase the existing facility in Tacoma for the College’s Tacoma program; $2 million to remove, clean and dispose of two underground diesel oil tanks at Central Washington University; and $5 million to renovate the Carver Academic Center at Western Washington University.

Federal Budget Deal What It Means for Higher Education

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The announcement last week that budget negotiators in D.C. had reached a budget deal is improved news for higher education compared to the series of cuts the sector has experienced in recent years.

The budget deal would alleviate reductions to research funding and campus-based student aid programs. While no specific funding levels are proposed for higher education, funding levels are increased for non-military spending which impacts higher education and research.

If passed by the Senate, the House has already passed the deal, budget writers would have $492 billion for non-military spending. This is approximately $23 billion more than would be available if the second round of automatic cuts (sequestration) were to occur in January, but still $14 billion below the original level of non-defense funding before the cuts were implemented.

Within these dollars policymakers would have the option to restore and even increase funding to campus-based financial aid programs and federal research agencies.

To pay for the reversal of sequestration cuts, policymakers identified various sources of revenue since raising taxes or making changes to entitlement programs were off the table. With regard to higher education, revenue would be generated by making changes to payments for loan servicers.

  • Default Reduction Program – This provision reduces the compensation that guaranty agencies receive for rehabilitating a loan from the Federal Family Education Loan Program beginning July 1, 2014. ($2 billion savings over 10 years).
  • Elimination of Non-Profit Servicing Contracts – This provision eliminates the mandatory spending for payments to non-profit student loan servicers and instead ensures they will be paid with discretionary funds in the same manner as other student loan services. ($3.1 billion savings)

Representatives of servicers and guaranty agencies expressed concerns about the proposed changes. They noted that cutting the default reduction fees would likely result in fewer loan rehabilitations but also negatively impact the ability of these agencies to provide access, financial literacy, and delinquency prevention services.

Congress must pass the new budget before January 15 to avert another government shutdown.

Washington Legislature Kicks Off November Assembly Days

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This Thursday and Friday the Washington Legislature meets for Assembly Days to focus on the issues they will face in January during the 2014 supplemental session.

Several work sessions will be held that center around the 2014 supplemental operating and capital budgets as well as the impacts of legislation passed during the 2013 regular session.

Higher education kicked off the week early with the convening of the Joint Higher Education Committee yesterday. Committee members engaged with members of the Washington Student Achievement Council on the launch of the Councils’ Ten-Year Roadmap.

On Thursday the Senate Higher Education Committee and the House Subcommittee on Education Appropriations will meet. The Senate Higher Education Committee will hold a work session on meeting Washington’s workforce demands with a focus on the workforce skills gap, higher education efforts to meet employer needs, and using data to measure success in meeting workforce demand. The House will focus on the Guaranteed Education Tuitin (GET) program and an update on the College Bound Scholarship program.

In the afternoon the Senate Ways & Means Committee will receive an update on the 2014 supplemental capital and operating budgets, most recent revenue forecast and collective bargaining agreements. In addition members will hear from the Council of Presidents regarding the Higher Education Performance Funding Task Force.

The House Appropriations Committee will also convene to receive updates regarding Lean management savings, the higher education budget, and the Affordable Care Act.

On Friday the House Higher Education Committee will meet to learn more about the 2014 legislative agendas for the Washington Student Achievement Council, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and the Council of Presidents.

Senate Democrats Name New Leader

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This afternoon the Washington Senate Democrats named Sen. Sharon Nelson the new leader of the caucus.

Nelson, who represents parts of Burien, North Highline, Vashon and Maury Islands, and West Seattle, served as Assistant Ranking Member on Ways & Means during the 2013 legislative session.

Prior to serving in the Senate she served in the Washington House and as Chief of Staff for then King County Councilmember Dow Constantine, where she worked on a broad range of public policy issues, including complex land use legislation.

Nelson replaces Sen. Ed Murray. Murray resigned his position after being elected as the Mayor of Seattle earlier this month.

Washington Student Achievement Council Adopts Ten-Year Roadmap

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This morning the Washington Student Achievement Council adopted a Ten-Year Roadmap to increase educational attainment in Washington.

The Roadmap identifies two bold goals for Washington by 2023:

  • All adults in Washington will have a high school diploma or equivalent
  • At least 70 percent of Washington adults will have a postsecondary credential.

The Council will monitor progress toward the goals annually to evaluate their long-term impacts by examining increases in the number and percentage of Washingtonians completing a high school diploma or equivalent; in the percentage of the population enrolled in a postsecondary certificate, apprenticeship, or degree program; and the number of postsecondary certificates, apprenticeships, and degrees awarded annually.

To achieve these goals the Council has identified twelve action steps:

  • Ensure Access
  1. Ensure cost is not a barrier for low-income students
  2. Keep college affordable
  3. Ensure all high school graduates are career and college ready
  4. Streamline and expand dual credit and dual enrollment programs
  5. Increase support for all current and prospective students

 

  • Enhance Learning
  1. Align postsecondary programs with employment opportunities
  2. Provide greater access to work-based learning opportunities
  3. Encourage adults to earn a postsecondary credential
  4. Leverage technology to improve student outcome

 

  • Prepare for Future Challenges
  1. Respond to student, employer and community needs
  2. Increase awareness of postsecondary opportunities
  3. Help students and families save for postsecondary education

 

The top 2013 Roadmap priority is to ensure costs is not a barrier for low-income students. To that end the Council will advocate for full-funding of the College Bound Scholarship and the State Need Grant programs. In addition work is underway to develop a funding policy to better guide legislative appropriations to institutions. Finally, the Council will prioritize the remaining Roadmap actions during the development of the 2014 Strategic Action Plan, which will outline policy and funding needs for the 2015-17 biennium.