Category Archives: Uncategorized

Revenue Forecast Early; Slight Uptick

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On Friday the Washington Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released the most recent revenue report.  Revenue projections through 2017 have increased by $274 million. This raises the 2015-17 state budget to $37 billion.

Amid the good news was the stark reminder that the Legislature still must find a way to deal with I-1351 to lower class sizes – which would create an estimated $2 billion budget shortfall.  Even if the Legislature suspends or even sends the initiative back to the voters, policymakers must still find a way to fund the McCleary decision.

This session policymakers moved the revenue forecast up a month in an effort to move the budget process along.  The next revenue forecast will be released in June.

Fast and Furious to the Deadline

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Today marked the first major deadline of the 2015 legislative session. All policy bills, unless they are deemed necessary to implement the budget (NTIB), must have moved from their respective policy committees to either an appropriation committee or rules.

Both the Senate and House higher education committees have spent the last two weeks advancing bills to the next stage in the process.

Below is a brief glimpse of some of the bills that have advanced past today’s deadline.

  • HB 1500: Requires the Joint Higher Education Committee to conduct a study of higher education costs at the state universities, regional universities, and The Evergreen State College – House Appropriations
  • HB 1696: Returns tuition-setting authority for resident undergraduate students to the operating budget – House Appropriations
  • HB 1973: Establishes the Washington Open Education Pilot Program at Eastern Washington University beginning in the 2015-16 academic year – House Appropriations
  • SB 5638: Students who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment for at least three quarter credits, or the equivalent semester hours, in a qualifying higher education program are eligible for the State Need Grant – Senate Rules
  • SB 5318: Establishes a wildlife college student loan program – Senate Rules
  • SB 5547: SNG recipients must maintain a 2.5 grade point average to be eligible for renewal, unless the student attends The Evergreen State College. Students enrolled at Evergreen must meet the requirements of the college’s satisfactory academic progress policy to remain eligible for the State Need Grant program – Senate Ways & Means

The bills that advanced this week from the policy committees, if moved to an appropriation committee, must move from committee to the floor by the end of the day on March 27.  Stay tuned!

Week in Review

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This week committees transitioned from work sessions to public hearings, even advancing some bills to the next step in the legislative process.

The Senate Higher Education Committee spent the week listening to testimony on a range of bills and moving forward trustee appointments. The Committee held public hearings on bills focusing on tuition policy, student veterans, and sexual assault prevention. Evergreen weighed in supporting bills to align state policy impacting student veterans with federal policy, provide support for sexual assault prevention, and eliminate tuition-setting authority for public baccalaureate institutions.

The Senate Higher Education also took action and advanced Nick Wootan, Student Trustee for The Evergreen State College to the full Senate for confirmation.

The House Higher Education Committee also spent the week taking public testimony on a range of bills.  Legislation before the committee focused on student veterans, transparency and accountability, performance funding and tuition policy.  Evergreen echoed testimony the College provided in the Senate to support legislation that would align state policy with federal policy for student veterans and eliminate tuition-setting authority for public baccalaureate institutions.

Evergreen also  testified on a variety of bills that focused on transparency and accountability.  The College asked the committee to not duplicate current reporting efforts and to clarify responsibilities within the legislation. Among the bills was legislation to create a performance incentive funding policy for the comprehensive institutions and Evergreen.

Finally, Evergreen testified in support of the Governor’s biennial capital budget before the Senate Ways & Means Committee.  Evergreen asked the Committee to support funding for Evergreen’s capital priorities and to provide funding to maintain and preserve existing facilities.

Next week both the House and Senate Higher Education Committees will continue to hold public hearings.  Bills will focus on financial aid policy and higher education funding.

Nearly a Month In…

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Washington is nearly a month in to the 2015 legislative session. Activity abounds.

In the House, the 2015 supplemental budget passed off the floor late last week and the Appropriations Committee has held a public hearing on the Governor’s proposed biennial budget.  In addition, the Capital Budget Committee took testimony on the Governor’s proposed biennial capital budget.

The House Higher Education Committee opened the legislative session with several work sessions focused on timely topics including access and affordability and areas of study that lead to good jobs – highlighting computer science, rural health care, and maritime industries. Beginning last week, the Committee began hold public hearings on legislation introduced this session. The focus of bills introduced this session have ranged from efficiencies and transparency within higher education to strategic planning to access and affordability policies.

The Committee will continue to hold public hearings and begin executive sessions through this week and likely most of next week as the first legislative deadline nears at the end of February.

The Senate has followed a similar path.  The Senate Ways & Means Committee opened the session with a public hearing on the Governor’s biennial operating budget followed by two work sessions focused on higher education funding and capital construction.  This week the Committee will hold a public hearing on the Governor’s proposed biennial capital budget.

The Senate Higher Education Committee also has taken time to focus on topics of the day in higher education, such as medical education, campus sexual assault prevention, and higher education funding.  Beginning last week the committee focused on advancing legislation introduced this session, giving attention to a series of bills focused on financial aid and transparency. The committee will continue this work this week with hearings on sexual assault prevention legislation, tuition policy, and veterans.

Finally, the Committee has held a series of conversations with trustees and regents appointed by the Governor to serve on higher education related public boards.

Obama Releases FY16 Budget – Focus on Education

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This week President Obama released his FY16 budget.  The budget includes several key investments to support the education continuum by investing in the expansion of high-quality early learning programs, increasing equity and opportunity for all students; supporting teachers and school leaders; and improving access, affordability and student outcomes in college.

The proposed budget includes several investments in higher education:

  • America’s College Promise Initiative, which would partner with state’s to offer free tuition for the first two years of community college ($1.36 billion).
  • Full support for the Pell Grant program, including tying the maximum award to inflation beyond 2017 ($29.7 billion)
  • Simplification of the FAFSA
  • Expansion of job opportunities through the American Technical Training Fund, a joint effort with the Department of Labor ($200 million)
  • Simplification of Income-Driven student loan repayment plans
  • An increase in support for federal TRIO programs by $20 million ($860 million)
  • An increase in support for the First in the World program by $140 million ($200 million)

In addition to higher education, the budget makes several investments in early learning and K-12 education.  Among the highlights is funding to support the Preschool for All program to provide universal high-quality preschool programs for all four year-old from low- and moderate-income families and the Teaching for Tomorrow program to support changes in how states and districts recruit and prepare new teachers and strengthen professional support for teachers throughout their career.

The President’s proposed budget now goes to The Hill for consideration.

Senate Higher Education Committee Engages with Evergreen Trustee

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This afternoon the Washington Senate Higher Education Committee held a public hearing and engaged in a conversation with three trustees from Washington’s public higher education institutions – Bellevue College, Everett Community College, and The Evergreen State College.

The Senate Committee asked several questions of the trustees ranging from what is the one thing you hope to do in your current role to what is your perspective on tuition policy.

Nick Wootan, the current student trustee, shared his thoughts with regard to tuition, the need for investment in higher education, and the role of student voice in higher education.

Obama Announces Free Community College Proposal

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On Friday, President Obama announced his intent to send legislation to Congress to make the first two years of community college free across the nation – America’s College Promise proposal.

The proposal, a federal-state partnership, would be funded primarily by the federal government (75%) and ask states to fund the remaining (25%). In addition, to qualify students would be required to attend at least half-time, maintain a GPA of at least 2.5, and progress towards their degree.

The proposal asks community colleges to strengthen their programs and increase the number of students who graduate. In particular, to offer academic programs that fully transfer to local public, four-year colleges/universities or occupational training programs with high graduation rates and lead to degrees/certificates that are in high demand by employers.

Finally, states will be required  to invest more in higher education and training by contributing the remaining funds necessary to eliminate community college tuition for eligible students as well as commit to continuing existing investments in higher education, coordinate education to reduce the need for remediation and repeated courses, and allocate a significant portion of funding based on performance not enrollment alone. In return, the federal government will pick-up the majority of the costs but will also provide states with flexibility to use some resources to expand quality community college offerings, improve affordability at four-year public universities, and improve college readiness through outreach and early intervention.

While the proposal would only cover tuition, which is a portion of the entire cost of education, and only pay for two years of college, many students go beyond two years, the White House estimates it would save 9 million students approximately $3,800 per year in tuition if every state chose to participate.
Details are still forthcoming in the President’s 2016 budget, but many questions remain unclear such as how the program would work, how the grants to states would be structured, and how the program would interact with the Pell Grant and other tuition-based financial aid programs.

Some remain cautious of the new program. Some are concerned that this will provide funding to students who can afford tuition. Others argue that tuition is often entirely covered by the Pell Grant for low-income students, but that it is the cost of living and foregone wages, not tuition, that are the biggest financial barriers.

Still the opportunity to change the dialogue around higher education to focus on the possibility for everybody to earn an education is an argument made in favor of the program.

Federal Appropriations for Education Signed Into Law

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Recently President Obama signed into law an omnibus appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2015. The bill:

  • Provides level-funding for the Department of Education
  • Increases funding to Title I and special education grants to states
  • Funds $250 million towards the Preschool Development Grants program
  • Funds an increase of $100 to the maximum Pell Grant – the new maximum grant is $5,830

In addition the bill makes several cuts. Among the most significant is $21.6 million from the Investing in Innovation Fund and $58.8 million from the Teacher Incentive Fund.

Obama Administration Releases College Ranking Framework

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Today the U.S. Department of Education released the much anticipated framework for a college ranking system.  The framework summarizes the basic categories, institutional groupings, data, metrics, and tools that the Department is currently weighing in designing the ratings system.

The purposes of the rating system are to: (1) help students and families make informed choices when searching for and selecting a college; (2) help colleges measure, benchmark, and continue to improve across the principles of access, affordability, and outcomes; and (3) enable the incentives and accountability structure in the federal student aid program to be properly aligned to these key principles

The first version of the rating system will include four-year institutions and two-year institutions and only take into account undergraduate students.  Graduate-degree only and non-degree granting institutions will not be included.

The rating system will use broad categories to highlight significant success and challenges of institutions. This will not be a numerical ranking of institutions. The ratings will be limited to three performance categories: (1) high-performing, (2) low-performing, and (3) those falling in the middle. The Department argues that this system will allow the identification of institutions that are performing well and those that are facing challenges without suggesting more than the data can support. The Department is currently conducting data analyses to determine the thresholds.

The Department is also interested in the issue of improvement over time. The Department is considering inclusion of some form of recognition that an institution is demonstrating meaningful improvement in partnership with the institution’s ranking.

With regard to institutional groupings, the Department is conducting additional analysis to determine what specific groupings will be used. To date the Department has determined that groupings will differentiate between four-year and two-year and is considering accounting for differences in institutional characteristics such as degree, program mix and selectivity.

The rating system will use existing sources of data for the first version of the rating, including IPEDS and NSLDS as well as individual data such as the FAFSA. The data will inform several metrics used in the rating system. Efforts to measure performance over multiple years and offer intermediate measures are also being considered. Metrics under discussion by the Department include:

  • Percent Pell: The percentage of a college’s enrolled students who receive federal Pell grants
  • Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Gap: The average difference between some focal EFC level and each student’s individual EFC.
  • Family Income Quintiles
  • First-Generation College Status
  • Average Net Price: The cost of attendance after accounting for all federal, state and institutional grant aid
  • Net Price by Quintile
  • Completion Rates
  • Transfer Rates
  • Labor Market Success:  Discussing the use of a combination of a short-term indicator  of “substantial employment” with a longer-term more specific earnings measure such as the mean or median earnings of former students ten years or more after entering the institution. A threshold measure for substantial employment would be a way to express an institution’s share of graduates who earned above a specific level, such as a percentage of former students earning above 200 percent of the federal poverty line for a family of one or a multiple of the full-time minimum wage earned over one year.
  • Graduate School Attendance
  • Loan Performance Outcomes

Finally the Department is also taking into consideration a series of additional issues and how to respond, including how to present the information, account for student and institutional characteristics, make the system consumer friendly, and provide the opportunity for institutions to share additional information.

In the months ahead, the Department will arrange and participate in many structured discussions about the ratings system to continue and focus on identifying, assessing, and refining the best ways to improve access, affordability, and outcomes in higher education. Sessions will be announced by early January.

The agency expects to publish the college ratings system before the 2015-16 school year and will continue to refine the ratings system over time based on user and institutional experience, input from the field, and the availability of additional data.

Governor’s Budget Released

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On Thursday Governor Inslee released his proposed 2015-17 Operating and Capital budgets.  The budget – Book 2- reflects the Governor’s focus that “after more than a decade of cutting vital services and neglecting obligations,… it is time to start reinvesting in Washington”. The budget proposes a mix of spending cuts, new revenue and reserves to pay for education and services.

The Governor also submitted, as required by law, a budget – Book 1 – that would provide for a balanced budget within existing revenues.

Governor’s Proposed Biennial Operating Budget

The Governor’s proposed budget – Book 2 – invests $2.3 billion in education.  Under his proposal the budget would provide funding to reduce class sizes statewide for kindergarten through third grade, meet the state’s commitment to fully fund basic education, make major investments in early learning, target investments to increase student success and boost graduation rates and freeze resident undergraduate tuition.

The budget also makes a number of other investments:

  • Increase mental health bed capacity to prevent inappropriate boarding of psychiatric patients
  • Hire more than 100 child protective and child welfare services workers to speed up investigations of abuse and neglect and ensure safe conditions for children in foster care
  • Boost staffing levels at state parks to restore services and catch up on a backlog of maintenance work
  • Implement the Governor’s proposed market-based carbon pollution reduction program
  • Prevent and respond to oil spills along rail lines and reduce toxics in our waters
  • Provide modest pay raises for state employees

The budget proposes tax and revenue changes ($1.4 billion) in combination with reserves and reductions to support the biennial operating budget. The budget uses $450 million from reserves and includes $211 million in General Fund spending reductions. Finally the proposal maximizes federal funds and shifts general fund costs to other fund sources to save an additional $212 million.

Among the tax and revenue changes is a new capital gains tax ($798 million) on the sale of stocks, bonds, and other assets to increase the share of state taxes paid by the wealthiest taxpayers, new revenue from a market-based carbon pollution reduction plan ($380 million), and a repeal of a sales tax exemption for trade-ins valued over $10,000 ($105 million).

 Higher Education

The Governor’s proposed budget freezes tuition for undergraduate, resident students for the biennium. No additional dollars are provided to offset the tuition freeze. The Governor will also introduce legislation to: (1) return tuition setting authority to the budget, (2) eliminate differential tuition, (3) repeal negotiation of Higher Education performance plans, (4) repeal publication of the 60th percentile global challenge states comparisons, and (5) amend financial aid mitigation provided with tuition setting authority so that any institution that exercised tuition setting authority above levels assumed by the legislature in 2011-13 and 2013-15 will continue to provide the financial aid mitigation.

In addition the budget makes an investment in math and science for each of the public baccalaureate institutions and the CCTCs and provides compensation at 3% and 1.8% for classified, professional, and faculty employees. The proposed funding only recognize the general fund portion. The remaining funding to support the compensation request is presumed to come from tuition but the budget prohibits increases in resident undergraduate tuition. This is also reflected in the health benefit increase. The budget also makes a handful of specific investments in other programs including the health professions, ocean acidification, and renewable energy.

Finally the budget maintains current funding for the State Need Grant and increases funding for the College Bound Scholarship program to recognize caseload increases.

It is worth noting that the Governor’s proposed budget without new revenues would result in a 10% reduction to higher education.

Evergreen

Under the Governor’s budget tuition would be frozen for undergraduate, resident students for the biennium at Evergreen. No additional investments are made to the College to offset the tuition freeze.

In addition the budget invests in math and science at Evergreen and provides compensation at 3% and 1.8% for classified, professional and faculty employees. The funding levels for compensation only recognizes the general fund portion, or just over a third of the cost. The remaining funding to support the compensation request is presumed to come from tuition but the budget prohibits increases in resident undergraduate tuition. This would require institutions to fund the rest from institutional dollars. For Evergreen this is $1.82 million. This split is also reflected in the health benefit increase. Evergreen would need to provide an estimated $169k.

Finally the budget requires Evergreen to report on STEM outcome measures, provides funding for several Washington State Institute for Public Policy studies in Evergreen’s allocation, and retains budget language in support of the Longhouse.

It is worth noting that the Governor’s proposed budget without new revenues would result in a 10% reduction to higher education, this would be a reduction of $2.13 million annually to Evergreen.

Capital Budget
Governor Inslee also proposed a biennial capital budget for higher education. The Governor provided funding for several projects across higher education. This includes funding for three projects at Evergreen – Lecture Hall Renovation Construction, Lab I Basement Construction funding, and Seminar I Renovation Predesign.  The budget also provides authorization to purchase the Tacoma Campus property.

In addition the budget includes funds to support facilities preservation, minor works, and preventative facility maintenance and building system repairs.

Next Steps

The Governor’s budget is the first of many budgets that will be released to address the 2015-17 biennium. While the Governor’s budget is the first step in the budget development process, there will be at least four more legislative budgets to review as the legislative session progresses.

The Washington Legislature will convene on January 12 to begin its work to develop a biennial budget.  Over the next 105 days, the House and Senate will hold work sessions and public hearings on the gubernatorial proposed budgets as well as the budgets put forth by each chamber before finalizing a conference budget.