A New Direction for Higher Education in Washington

“The dramatic erosion of state support for higher education is another clear example of why our state is crying out for change... A New Direction for Washington state means halting and reversing the downward slide in state support for higher education.” - Rob McKenna, announcement speech, June 8, 2011

In some ways, Washington’s higher education system neatly encapsulates the challenges and opportunities our state faces. Our universities, community colleges and technical colleges enjoy broad public support and attract students from around the globe. Our flagship institutions, the University of Washington and Washington State University, are leaders in innovation and magnets for research dollars. At the same time, state support for these institutions has eroded significantly. National and international competition have made post-secondary education absolutely essential to our economic future, but when budget reductions are made in Olympia, it seems higher education is always first on the chopping block.

The funding crisis in our higher education system underscores how the rhetoric from our state capitol often doesn’t match our leaders’ actions. Studies, statistics and statements abound in Olympia on the importance of higher education, but the erosion of state funding has been relentless. In fact, higher education budgets have been slashed more than most major components of the state budget.

These deep cuts have occurred even as study after study point to our state’s great need for an educated workforce. Among the United States, Washington has one of the highest percentages of jobs that require post-secondary education, but our attainment rates for bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees are among the lowest in the nation. Good jobs in this state are going unfilled, and many of the most lucrative jobs are being filled by out of state talent. With a more robust higher education system, more of our workforce needs could be met by our students.

Simply put, defunding our colleges means defunding our future. In this competitive world, falling behind in higher education will have long-term consequences for the future prosperity of this state. It is time to end the cuts, rebuild state support for our schools, and give Washington families an affordable path to college graduation.

Higher education needs a champion in Olympia. As governor, I will be that champion.

Goals

End the erosion of state support for higher education and restore funding levels to their historical average, providing stability for college and university budgets and increased access for Washington families. Devoting just 8% of the state general fund budget to higher education is simply unacceptable.
Return to a 50/50 deal with our university students, where the state covers half the cost of a college education while students and their families pick up the other half.
Enroll more in-state students in our universities, produce more college graduates, and increase the number of graduates attaining higher levels of post-secondary education.
Emphasize degree programs that align with our future job needs, such as science, technology, engineering, math, math education, business management, accounting, and health science.
At our community colleges, we should aim for 75% state support, which is close to where it used to be (77%) and much better than the current level of 58%.

Challenges

Washington has one of America’s highest percentages of jobs that require education beyond high school. A Georgetown University study predicts that by 2018, 67% of jobs in our state will require post-secondary education.[1]
Two decades ago, the state devoted 16.4% of the general fund to higher education. Today, only 8.3% of the general fund goes to higher education. In the current economic downturn, higher education has borne the brunt of state budget reductions.[2]
Inconsistent state funding for higher education has led to big tuition hikes for our students.[3]
For every 100 bachelor’s degrees earned in Washington, employers bring into our state 76 workers with bachelor’s degrees to fill jobs. For every 100 graduate degrees earned in our state, employers import in 125 graduate degree holders to fill jobs.[4]
Washington ranks 48^thin the nation in undergraduate enrollment per capita, and 49^thin graduate program enrollment.[5]
Counting students from their freshman year of high school, only 18% of Washington students will go on to community college or a university and obtain a degree within six years.[6]

[1] Higher Education Coordinating Board, “2011-12 Higher Education Budget,” June 2011, 6.
[2] Anthony P. Carnevale, Nicole Smith, and Jeff Strohl, “Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018,” 105.
[3] Higher Education Coordinating Board, “Key Facts About Higher Education in Washington,” 104.
[4] Higher Education Coordinating Board, “The Impact on Interstate Migration on Human Capital Development in Washington,” September 2010, 3.
[5] Samuel H. Smith, “Washington higher education: When should we schedule the last Apple Cup?,” Seattle Times, November 26, 2010.
[6] League of Education Voters Foundation, “2011 Citizens’ Report Card on Washington State Education,” 5.

Opportunities

We know the need for higher education is growing even as state support for our universities and colleges is shrinking. We can improve our higher education system and address access, funding, degree attainment, workforce needs, and reforms. But first, we need a governor who recognizes what needs to be done for higher education and who has a vision to get us there.

College Access and Higher Education Funding:

As the economy grows, and the state budget grows along with it, we must steadily boost the percentage of the budget devoted to higher education and K-12. Education at all levels is the state’s top responsibility; the largest share of budget growth should be devoted to it.
This means that other areas of state spending must not be allowed to grow as fast as they have been expanding in recent years; for example, health care spending has doubled[7] from 15 to 30 percent of the state general fund budget in just the past decade.
In addition, we must push hard for meaningful government reforms to find savings in current spending levels, using attrition to shrink the number of general government employees; performance management to increase productivity and connect compensation to performance, not just seniority; and competitive contracting to determine what work should be done by state employees and what should be done by non-profit agencies and small business contractors (For more on this topic, see http://www.robmckenna.org/newdirection/government-reform).
The ratio of state support to tuition is unbalanced, with students and families paying more than ever before to attend a state school. As state support to higher education grows, that ratio should be brought back down through stabilized tuition rates. A 50/50 deal with our students and families is a fair balance that will make college more affordable. Funding isn’t just about finances, it’s about the state acknowledging that everyone benefits from an skilled and educated workforce.
We can increase access to financial aid by establishing a Washington Pledge Scholarship Program.[8] As proposed by the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the WPSP would be a voluntary program with an endowment fund goal of $1 billion, funded by private donations from individuals and businesses. This fund would help families that cannot afford college but don’t qualify for state or federal need-based grants.
In addition, financial aid for students at Washington’s private colleges (which produce 25% of the state’s degrees), community and technical colleges and in our universities must be strengthened, so that all who qualify for support actually receive it.

[7] Steve Hill, “Health-care delivery must be reformed for sustainable state budget,” Seattle Times, January 18, 2011.
[8] Higher Education Funding Task Force, “Funding Our Future: A Financial Blueprint for Strengthening Higher Education in Washington State,” January 3, 2011, 9.

A Skilled, Educated Workforce

Washington’s employers need a skilled and educated workforce to fill jobs now. Even with unemployment stuck at high levels, 60,000 skilled jobs in our state are currently unfilled because of a lack of qualified applicants. With more funding for, and greater access to, higher education, more of these jobs can be filled by Washington workers instead of remaining unfilled or being filled by workers brought here from out of state.
Washington already leads in high-tech sectors such as aerospace, software, and bioscience. Our universities must make sufficient numbers of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math degrees available to our students so they may take their places in these industries.
Similarly, our community and technical colleges must be funded at higher levels to support more degree and certificate slots in high-demand fields such as health care, IT and aerospace.

Reforms

Every part of state government can perform at a higher level, including higher education. Voters will be more likely to invest in higher education if they feel our colleges are squeezing more value from taxpayer dollars.
Increased state support will come with increased expectations. Colleges must do more to ensure the classes they offer will enable as many students as possible to graduate on time, by making sufficient slots available in mandatory courses for high-demand majors, for example.
Greater use of online courses should be pursued, to increase course access and contain costs.
A significant share of increased state resources for our universities should be focused on the branch campuses, such as UW-Tacoma and WSU-TriCities, as well as on the programs offered away from their main campuses by the regional comprehensive universities, such as EWU at Bellevue College. Those campuses and programs produce degrees at a lower cost than the university main campuses, and often are located closer to the students who need them.
Expand University Centers and applied baccalaureate programs at the community colleges.
We should strongly incentivize students to graduate on time. For example, we can cap the state’s tuition subsidy when a student exceeds the number of credits necessary to graduate.
For new hires, we should move from a tenure system to a long-term contract system. Instead of guaranteeing lifetime tenure, give new professors a rolling five year contract that can be renewed. Such a system would protect academic freedom without tying universities down to lifetime tenure.
Use technology to reduce costs. Look for opportunities, especially in large introductory courses, to utilize technology to save money on instruction, facilities, testing, and textbooks.

Use managed competition to save money. Universities are currently required to provide some services, such as janitorial services and facilities maintenance, that the private businesses or non-profits could deliver for less money. A managed competition system would help identify services that could be contracted out while allowing current employees to compete to continue delivering those services. The City of Indianapolis’ managed competition system realized an average savings of 20%, regardless of whether public employees or the private sector won the bid.