SEATTLE — Surrounded by children, Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday signed bills to help kids on both ends of the education spectrum: a comprehensive new early learning bill and a measure that will cut college and university tuition.
The College Affordability Program will cut tuition at all of Washington's public college and universities over the next two years. Four-year schools would see their tuition cut by 15 to 20 percent, and two-year schools would see tuition drop by 5 percent.
The measure was sponsored by state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, as part of Senate bill 5954.
“I can think of no better priority for our state’s future,” Braun said in a press release. “For years, the state has underinvested in our state’s higher education system, leaving working families and students to bear the brunt of tuition that has nearly doubled in the last decade. We began this session with a simple premise — make students a priority. The higher education model of overpriced tuition that requires high financial aid has left students debt-burdened and our institutions without certainty. This policy provides a guaranteed level of funding for institutions, cuts tuition and puts students first.”
The state budget makes up for the cut in dollars going to the state's colleges and universities by adding money to the state higher education budget from other sources.
Tuition is set to go down 15 percent at the University of Washington and Washington State University and 20 percent at Western, Central, Eastern and the Evergreen State College.
Beginning in fall 2017, state college and university tuition may start to go back up, but only as fast as the annual average percentage growth in the median hourly wage for Washington for the previous 14 years.
National experts on college tuition have called Washington's tuition cut a rare move that could influence other states.
“The reality is that our state has the resources to make higher education a priority,” said Braun, one of the Senate’s lead budget negotiators. “In economic terms, this policy makes sense. Students graduating with an average of more than $20,000 in debt means that students delay major life events like starting a family, purchasing a home, or starting a business. While our state has a generous financial aid system, working families were left out of that equation. I believe the best financial aid is lower tuition. This change means college is more affordable for the nearly 300,000 students in our state.”
The Early Start Act makes the state’s quality-rating system mandatory for licensed childcare facilities that receive state dollars. It also provides money for training of teachers, coaching and technical assistance to help these childcare centers reach a higher rating. Participation by centers and daycare homes that do not receive state dollars continues to be voluntary.
The new early learning law also changes the way the state distributes its childcare subsidies, allowing kids to stay in their subsidized program for 12 months even if their family's financial situation changes.
The governor commended both houses of the Legislature for the bipartisan way they worked to pass this bill sponsored by Rep. Ruth Kagi, whose granddaughter came to the bill-signing event. Inslee called it one of the most comprehensive and important bills to come to his desk this year.
The state budget also boosts spending on early learning by allocating $94.5 million to the state preschool budget to train teachers and educate more children. The Early Start Act would help more than 48,000 children get a high-quality start on their educations, Inslee said.
The state budget makes a strong commitment to education at every level this year, from preschool to K-12 to higher education, the governor said. "Every single rung on the education ladder has to be financed and fulfilled. But it starts on this very first rung," Inslee said before signing the preschool bill.
