Seven percent tuition hike approved

Kayla Webley
2005-04-26
The Daily

A 7 percent hike in tuition was approved by the state Legislature when passed the 2005-07 budget at the close of the legislative session.

Once approved by the governor, the UW Board of Regents, which sets all tuition levels, will have the authority to raise tuition for in-state undergraduates, not exceeding the 7 percent mark.

UW lobbyists, who originally anticipated a higher amount, met the 7 percent tuition increase favorably.

"We walked into this session thinking we were going to get [an increase of] 12-15 percent," said UW student lobbyist Jamie Corning. "We know tuition needs to go up, so overall I think we did really well. We didn't get where we'd hoped we'd be, but we certainly got a lot further than we thought."

Much of the concern surrounding the tuition increase was due to uncertainty over how much of the increase would go toward improving the quality of the UW, not just filling in holes in the budget.

As passed, the budget uses a very small portion of student money to fill in the budget, said Corning. Of the approximately $60 million in revenue from the tuition increase, about $4 million will be used to fill in cuts in state support, he said.

In addition to an increase in tuition, the legislature increased state need-based grants by almost $70 million, the largest increase since the program started, said Corning.

The increase will fund students already receiving financial aid, as well as about 6,000 students who qualify to receive aid but do not because of a lack of funding.

The increase also changes the income level students need to qualify for financial aid.

Under the current system, the income level must be 55 percent or below the median income in Washington, which is an income of approximately $36,000 for a family of four.

The new plan will fund students at 65 percent or below the median income in Washington, or a family income of approximately $43,500 for a family of four.

The increase in funding for need-based grants is paid for in part by discontinuing the Washington Promise Scholarship, awarded to students based on merit.

"It went from merit-based financial aid to need-based," said Corning. "Those who can afford to pay will and those who cannot afford it will receive help so they can."