Tag Archives: Financial aid policy

Senate Concurs on Bill to Eliminate HECB

Posted on by

This afternoon the Washington Senate concurred on legislation – with a vote of 47-0 – to eliminate the Higher Education Coordinating Board and create the Office of Student Financial Assistance and the Council for Higher Education by July 1, 2012.

Senate Bill 5182 eliminates the Higher Education Coordinating Board on July 1, 2012, and establishes a Council for Higher Education subject to recommendations of a Steering Committee on Higher Education and legislation enacted in 2012.

The Steering Committee on Higher Education will be chaired by the Governor or her designee and include four legislators and equal representation from higher education sectors in the state.

Between now and July 1, 2012 the Higher Education Coordinating Board will continue several of its current responsibilities but not all. Senate Bill 5182 eliminates several Higher Education Coordinating Board functions to reflect the reduction in state funding for the agency. The areas eliminated include reporting on state support received by students, the costs of higher education, gender equity, capital budget prioritization, technology degree production, costs and benefits of tuition and fee reciprocity with Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia, and transmitting undergraduate and graduate educational costs to boards of regents.

The bill now goes to the Governor for her consideration.

GET Bill Moves Out of Senate

Posted on by

The Washington Senate passed a bill – with a vote of 41 to 3- that would make changes to Washington’s current Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program, in particular changes to the Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment.

Senate Bill 5749, as passed by the Senate, would:

  • Retain the provision that specifies the length of term for the members on the Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment appointed by the Governor for four-year terms instead of an unspecified period of time and adds two additional representatives of private business appointed by the Governor, who must consider names from a list provided by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
  • Add that the Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment utilize the State Actuary in reviewing the Guaranteed Education Tuition Program rather than a national recognized actuary, but the Committee may, at its discretion, obtain an assessment by a national recognized actuary.
  • Add that the Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment utilize the State Actuary in planning and devising a college savings program, but the Committee may, at its discretion, obtain an evaluation from a lified actuarial consulting firm.
  • Require the Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment, with the State Actuary, to review the program in light of passage of E2SHB 1795 (higher education opportunity act) and to make any necessary changes to the program for units purchased on or after September 1, 2011.
  • Establish a Legislative Advisory Committee to the Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment to provide advice regarding the administration of the program.
  • Remove all other provisions pertaining to new requirements after August 1, 2011.

 The bill now goes to the House for further consideration.

House Committee Moves Forward Bill to Restructure Higher Education at the State-Level

Posted on by

This afternoon the House Ways & Means Committee passed legislation that would eliminate the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and restructure higher education at the state level.

Senate Bill 5182, as amended in committee, would eliminate the HECB and establish the Council of Higher Education and the Office of Student Financial Assistance.

The Office of Student Financial Assistance will be created as of July 1, 2011. The current fnancial aid program management under the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) will be transferred to the Office.

The Higher Education Council will be established on July 1, 2012. Between now and the July 2012 date the HECB will continue and bridge the one-year delay before the new Council is in place.

The membership of the Council includes the president of the UW or her/his designee, the president of WSU or her/his designee, a president from the comprehensive institutions or Evergreen, the director of the state board for community and technical colleges, the superintendent of public instruction or her/his designee, one president from a non-profit, private institution, and five representatives of the public, of which one will be a current student.

The role and scope of the Council will be determined by a Joint Legislative Task Force on Higher Education.  The Joint Legislative Task Force will include eight legislators – four from each chamber, of which two will be Democratic legislators and two will be Republican legislators.

The Task Force is charged with reviewing coordination, planning, and communication for higher education in the state and establishing the purpose and functions of the new Council. The Task Force will report its findings and recommendaitons to the governor and the appropriate legislative committees by December 1, 2011.

Among the options to be considered include:

  • Creating an effective and efficient higher education system and coordinating key sectors including K-12
  • Improving the coordination of higher education institutions and sectors with specific attention to strategic planning, system design, and transfer and articulation
  • Improving structures and functions related to administration and regulation of the state’s higher education institutions and programs, including but not limited to financial aid, the GET program, federal grant administration, new degree program approval, authorization to offer degrees in the state, reporting performance data, and minimum admission standards.

The Task Force is required to consider input from all higher education stakeholders (i.e. institutions, Governor, HECB, K-12, Workforce Board, students, faculty, business, labor organizaitons, and the public).

The bill that passed out of the House committee is very close to the bill the Senate passed last week. The differences between SB 5182 as passed by the committee and the Senate are primarily with regard to the membership of the Council, the scope of the Council’s work, and the implementation date.

The bill now goes to the House floor for further consideration.

House Passes Key Higher Education Legislation

Posted on by

This afternoon the Washington House passed legislation that would alter current policies focused on tuition, accountability, and financial aid.  House Bill 1795 passed with a vote of 79-17.

The bill is a comprehensive piece of legislation that leaves little alone with regard to higher education policy. The key provision in the bill for many is the ability for four-year public baccalaureate institutions to set tuition for all students through 2014-2015 and modifies this authority based on a state funding baseline and funding for higher education institutions in the Global Challenge States through 2018-2019.

The ability for the four-year public baccalaureate institutions to set their own tuition levels is mitigated by strengthening current institutional financial aid requirements and funding the State Need Grant at the proposed increased tuition rates in the budget.  All institutions are required to remit at least 4% of operating fees back to students in the form of financial aid. This is an increase from 3.5%.

Institutions that exceed the tuition levels appropriated in the budget are required to remit 5% of operating fees back to students in the form of financial aid and provide financial assistance to students up to 125% of the Median Family Income (MFI) via a specific formula that is based on tuition price as a percentage of MFI in various income brackets up to 125% of MFI.  Finally all instititutions are required to make every effort to encourage eligible students to take advantage of federal tax credits.

The bill also requires higehr education institutions to report by December 1 on performance data that aligns with the National Governor’s Association Complete to Compete metrics with additions that include graduate and professional degrees;Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) participation; student debt load; and disaggregation of measures based on various student demographics, including socio-economic status and income levels. In addition institutions must develop a performance plan which must include a set of expected outcomes (i.e. time to degree, baccalureate degree production).

Finally the bills makes changes to dual enrollment policies, transfer and prior credit policies, and provides regulatory relief for institutions of higher education.

The bill now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

Legislation to Alter Higher Education Structure at the State Level Moves Forward

Posted on by

This morning the Senate passed legislation to eliminate the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and restructure higher education with a vote of 34-9.

Senate Bill 5182 would eliminate the HECB and establish the Council of Higher Education and the Office of Student Financial Assistance. 

The  Council membership would include the six four-year institution presidents, one private nonprofit president, the Executive Director of the SBCTC, and a representative from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or their designees. The purpose of the Council would be to develop performance-based measures and goals for each four-year institution and a strategic plan for the institutions of higher education benchmarks.

In addition the Council would perform essential state governance functions previously assigned to the HECB, including approving new programs, mission changes, new colleges, recognizing accreditation, and provides the interface to meet federal requirements.

The Office of Student Financial Assistance would administer all state and federal financial aid and the advanced college tuition payment program. The Office is created as a separate agency of the state.

Senate Bill 5182 is scheduled for a public hearing by the House Ways & Means Committee on Thursday. In addition, the Committee is also scheduled to take executive action on legislation that would not eliminate the HECB but would narrow the scope of their work.

House Bill 2074 retains the administration of the state’s financial aid programs, some functions for collecting and collating data from institutions, and other functions, such as some transfer and articulation provisions and strategic planning.

U.S. House Passes FY12 Budget Resolution

Posted on by

Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed a proposed FY2012 resolution with a vote of 235-193.

The budget would  impact higher education in several ways.

  • Rolls back  the 2012-13 maximum Pell Grant to FY2008 levels, resulting in a maximum Pell Grant of $2,090 for the 2012-13 academic year.
  • Calls for the repeal and defunding of the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA), which includes mandatory funding for the Pell Grant program. This could further lower the maximum grant by $690. 
  • Changes to limit the lifetime limits of the Pell Grant program
  • Rescinds recent expansions to the Need Analysis formula
  • Eliminates administrative cost allowances to schools
  • Repeals the expansion of income-based repayment provisions in the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), and 
  • Eliminates interest subsidies on all Stafford Loans.

The budget resolution is a nonbinding resolution that sets broad spending levels that appropriations’ committees use to set specific spending levels for federal programs. In addition, it is unlikely that the Democratic-controlled Senate will approve the measure.

The U.S. House Democrats offered a substitute FY2012 budget resolution that was defeated by the House. The Democrats’ substitute proposed using mandatory spending to maintain the maximum Pell Grant at $5,550 and to pay for this by reducing spending on other programs. The substitute resolution also established a deficit neutral reserve fund for college affordability’ to allow the House Budget Committee Chairman to revise the allocations, aggregates, and other appropriate levels in the resolution for legislation that makes college more affordable, including efforts to maintain the maximum Pell grant award, as long as it does not increase the deficit.

Congress Passes FY 11 Spending Bill

Posted on by

Yesterday the U.S. Senate and House passed a long-term continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through the end of the current fiscal year. The House passed the resolution with a vote of 260-167 and the Senate passed the same legislation with a vote of 81-19.

The resolution prevented a shut-down of the federal government last week. Congress had previously passed a series of short-term resolutions in lieu of a consensus on a final spending package. The most recent short-term continuing resolution expired today.

The resolution will preserve the $5,550 maximum Pell Grant for the 2011-12 award year and delay elimination of second Pell awards until after this summer. The reductions in the resolution also affect others student financial aid programs, including the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) and federal work study for the 2011-12 academic year. 

Overall the resolution reduces state spending by $38.5 million from non-defense, discretionary FY10 spending levels.  The President is expected to sign the bill.

House Committee Hears Bill To Change Scope of the Higher Education Coordinating Board

Posted on by

This afternoon the House Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing on legislation that would narrow the scope of work for Washington’s Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) primarily as a result of reductions in funding for the Board.

House Bill 2074 would retain several current functions of the HECB and remove others. Among those duties that are retained with the Board is the administration of the state’s financial aid programs, strategic planning for the state’s higher education system, some functions for collecting and collating data from higher education institutions on their accountability measures, and evaluating the need for various programs based on employer demand, and some other programmatic functions.

The bill would remove several current requirements. These include:  

  • Need assessments for proposed major expansions or mission changes of public institutions of higher education, and removes the requirement to assess the need for teacher preparation courses.
  • The evaluation and recommendation of operating and capital budget requests from the public four-year institutions and the community and technical college system.
  • The cost study measuring costs of instruction, costs to provide degrees in specific fields, and costs for precollege remediation; and removes the requirement that the HECB determine and transmit approved undergraduate and graduate educational costs to the boards of regents and  trustees of the public institutions of higher education.
  • Coordination and development of transfer and articulation policies.
  • Establishment of  minimum college admission standards.

Senate Holds Public Hearing on Proposed Biennial Budget

Posted on by

This afternoon the Senate Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing on the Senate’s proposed operating biennial operating budget.

The Senate’s proposed budget reduces state funding to higher education by $617.5 million. Of the total reduction to higher education, state funding for community and technical colleges is $200.3 million (14.4 percent) below the maintenance level and state funding for the four-year, public institutions is $417.3 million (29.8%) lower.

Under this proposed budget state funding for Evergreen is reduced by $14.28 million over the biennium. The reductions to Evergreen’s state funding were offset in part by tuition increases for the 2011-13 biennium as stated in the budget. As a result, the net cut to state funding for Evergreen is $5.78 million (-5.5%).

Representatives from key higher education stakeholder groups – including the Geoduck Student Union representative to the legislature, the Evergreen Council of Faculty representative, and the Director of Government Relations from Evergreen – testified to the impact of the proposed budget on students, faculty, and institutions.

Overall testimony acknowledged the dramatic reduction to higher education and the impact of this to Washington. Several stakeholders advocated for continual support of the budget’s funding for the State Need Grant program and the State Work Study program.  In addition, testimony showed appreciation for the open dialogue between senators and key stakeholders regarding the budget throughout its development and clarity within the budget.  Finally, stakeholders asked to continue to work with policymakers around personnel related reductions in the budget and some technical aspects of the bill.