The College Fix

Republican-led effort makes college more affordable by slashing costs rather than increasing financial aid

While many public universities across the nation continue to hike tuition, lawmakers in Washington state have done just the opposite, approving cuts that will reduce the price of in-state tuition at public universities by 15 to 20 percent over the next two years.

“This is a historic moment for families and students in our state,” bill co-sponsor Republican Sen. Barbara Bailey said in a statement. “Washington is the only state in the country to support working families with a college tuition reduction. In addition, this is the first tuition reduction in state history.”

The cuts were sealed July 8, when Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed the College Affordability Program, which will also reduce community college tuition by 5 percent.

The legislation fought an uphill battle on the floor of the state legislature and hit major partisan gridlock before finding its way to the governor’s desk.

State Republicans sought to lower tuition while Democrats had originally pushed for freezing tuition or increased spending on financial aid, according to the Seattle Times, causing the two parties to go through intense negotiations before a deal was struck.

“Tuition rollbacks are very rare. It will be interesting to see if other states follow Washington’s lead,” Thomas Harnisch, director of state relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, said in an statement to the Associated Press.

For students such Maddie Canty-Gill, a junior studying early childhood and family studies and psychology at the University of Washington, the tuition cut will allow her to save for other expenses.

“I’m pretty happy that tuition cuts are happening because now I’ll have more money for grad school and things like that,” Canty-Gill said in an interview with The Fix.

Tuition for the upcoming school year at the University of Washington Seattle will be $10,203, with a savings of $537.

Currently, the cost of attending college for Washington residents is among the highest in-state tuition rates in the country.

Washington has had the fifth-highest five-year rate of tuition and fees increases for public four-year universities in the country, with a 34 percent increase in cost since 2009, according to The College Board.

The national average for the cost of attending an in-state university was $9,139 for the 2014-15 school year. For residents to attend the University of Washington Seattle, tuition alone for the previous school year cost $10,740.

Washington’s public universities and colleges can expect any budget gaps from the decreased tuition revenue to be made up by increased state funding, according to the bill.

“In the end, lawmakers forged a compromise when Republicans agreed to close tax loopholes to pay for the tuition cut,” the Seattle Times reports.

After the currently mandated two-year period of price decrease, the institutions will be able to raise tuition again, but the new law “caps tuition growth based on a percentage of the state’s median wage,” Bailey said.

Several higher education watchdogs and reformers have said they hope other states will follow Washington’s path to cut tuition costs for students.

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