Proposal omits UW request

Kayla Webley
2005-03-03
The Daily

Details of Gov. Christine Gregoire's no-new-tax budget proposal revealed the UW will not receive funding for the new enrollment slots it requested, should the budget be implemented.

The proposed budget, released Tuesday, included no new revenue in an attempt to fill the state's $2 billion-plus budget deficit.

According to Tim Washburn, assistant vice president for enrollment services, of the 505 slots the UW requested, 150 would go to the Seattle campus, 200 to UW Tacoma and 155 to UW Bothell.

"This would certainly affect access for new students," said Washburn. "The University will have to adjust its admission plans for next fall accordingly."

The UW received 15,871 applications for admission in the fall -- almost 600 more than last year -- it hopes to admit no more than 4,700, according to Philip Ballinger, director of admissions.

The administration set the enrollment target at 4,700 in order to move the UW closer to the state funded level, Ballinger said.

Next year's target is 100 students less than the 4,800 students the UW targeted for enrollment last year. The UW overshot its target last year by 70 students, which may happen again this year.

"You are always making predictions of what percentage of the students you admit are going to enroll and sometimes you are off," said Ballinger. "Admissions is not a precise science, it's an art."

According to Washburn, lowering freshmen enrollment should help UW administrators meet their goal of enrolling no more students than the state will pay for.

By the end of the 2004-2005 academic year, the UW will be 500 students over the state funded level, set at the equivalent of 32,857 full time students, Washburn said.

Washburn said the admissions program is awaiting the end of the Legislative session, when they will know the final decision regarding enrollment slots for certain.

"It is difficult because we are in the midst of the admission process right now, so it is important to know what the state's enrollment plan will be for next fall while we are still able to make adjustments to the admissions process," he said.

The UW automatically accepts half of its freshmen class based on the admissions index set by the higher education coordinating board, according to Ballinger. Students automatically admitted began receiving their acceptances in early December.

Last year's incoming freshman had a 3.69 median GPA and an1183 combined median SAT score. Both medians are expected to rise this year due to additional restrictions on admissions, Ballinger said.

The remaining half of applications go through a comprehensive review process, which takes factors such as a student's economic background into account, in addition to the standard evaluation of GPA and test scores.

Freshmen admission should be concluded by the end of the month, Ballinger said.