House proposes cuts to higher education

By Christina Lorella

Last week, the Washington State House of Representatives issued its proposed 11-13 supplemental budget cuts. According to an email issued by Kelly Synder, the UW Bothell director of government and community relations, “the proposed cuts to higher education are significantly less than what the governor proposed.”

According to the email, the House proposed a $65 million dollar reduction in higher education funding. However, the proposal also suggests a $7.6 million increase of funding for the engineering program and an additional $6.4 million increase for the STEM Bridge program, which helps incoming first-year engineering and science students make a smooth transition to college.

The total net reduction is expected to be about $51 million.

If passed, this budget proposal would result in a three percent reduction of funding for all four-year institutions and an additional three percent reduction for the community and technical college systems in Washington State.

The State Need Grant, Washington’s largest financial aid program, is expected to see a $10 million cut if the proposal passes through the senate this week. The grant currently provides aid to 70,000 low-income students.

However, the proposal suggests no reductions to the Work Study program, which currently provides funding for about 7,600 students.

“It appears upon initial review the direct service level cut to the UW is $13.49 million with an increase for engineering of $3.8 million and some additional policy changes for a net change of $10.1 million reduction.  This is a -2.4% change from the original 11-13 appropriation,” Snyder said.

Last October, Gov. Chris Gregoire suggested a 15 percent reduction to higher education, which would total about $160 million in cuts. The suggestions were made in an attempt to reduce the state’s $2 billion shortfall.

“These cuts are significantly smaller than what we had anticipated,” Synder said.