Daunting assignment: Students lobby against cuts to higher education

OLYMPIA — It's a rhetorical question, but when student Jordan Johnston has the chance, he asks it anyway:

How will the state get out of the economic doldrums if higher-education funding continues to be slashed?

State Rep. Susan Fagan, who has slipped away from the floor of the state House for an impromptu meeting with seven Eastern Washington University students, listens sympathetically to Johnston's pitch. Still, with the state facing a nearly $5 billion budget shortfall, she has little hope to offer. "Times are tough," the Pullman Republican says.

On the other side of the ornate, marbled lobby of the Capitol building, six University of Washington students make a last-ditch effort to save Senate Bill 5795, which would provide child care for college students with children. For them, it's a rare bright spot on the legislative agenda — a measure that uses unclaimed lottery winnings to help students who are trying to finish their degrees while raising a family.

The UW students have just learned that Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, may oppose the measure. They dash across the Capitol grounds, to Zarelli's office and then back to the state House, spotting the lawmaker as he is about to enter the Senate chambers.

Drafted as lobbyists

UW students Ben Henry and Quinn Majeski make the case for supporting the measure, and Zarelli seems supportive. But the scramble is futile; the 5 p.m. deadline for passage ticks by. The bill appears to be dead.

Every spring in Washington, college students are drafted to become lobbyists for higher-education causes in Olympia. The Washington Student Association is the only such association in the country that uses students, and not a paid legislative director, to lobby the Legislature.

This year, despite furious lobbying efforts, student causes are likely to get walloped.

Legislators in both parties agree that a robust system of higher education can help the state get out of the economic doldrums. Yet, college and university funding is expected to be one of the biggest targets.

Unlike K-12 funding, higher-education money is not protected by the state constitution. Lawmakers justify the cuts by noting that the schools can raise revenue through tuition increases. And, because tuition at Washington's higher-education schools generally ranks on the low end of fast-rising college-tuition rates nationwide, legislators believe there's room for increases.

Washington's college students and their families already have absorbed double-digit tuition jumps. Tuition is sure to go up even more this year — a 9 percent to 11 percent increase has been proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire, but it could leap by 20 percent or more under some scenarios.

"When budget cuts hit, we're going to be bearing the brunt of the blow," said Evan Smith, a UW sophomore who has traveled to Olympia seven times this year, and testified before both House and Senate higher-education committees.

Students fear that, if the quality of their schools spirals downhill, their education — already dearly bought — won't prepare them for the future.

So many student groups this year are keeping an uneasy alliance with lawmakers who want to give tuition-setting authority to the institutions. Washington is one of a handful of states where the Legislature sets tuition.

One bill would give colleges and universities unlimited tuition-setting authority for four years. Another, based on the work of a task force formed by Gregoire, would give colleges and universities more limited authority.

Historically, student groups have opposed letting regents and trustees have control of tuition increases, said Ben Henry, vice president of UW's Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS). "These are things we would have dismissed out of hand" in previous years, he said. Now, "the tone of students is acquiescence."

Students this year "are very cognizant and realistic of the budget environment," said state Sen. Rodney Tom, who chairs the Senate Higher Education Committee. "They do understand there's a trade-off — we can have lower tuition, but quality goes out the door. I've been really impressed with how realistic they've been."

Still, giving tuition-setting authority to the institutions is troubling to students because they believe they cannot lobby regents, who are appointed by the governor, as effectively as they can lobby their elected representatives, who can be voted out of office.

If schools gain control over their tuitions, "there's no oversight, and not much predictability for students," said Sarah Reyneveld, a UW law student and president of GPSS. "How are students supposed to plan?"

If the Legislature approves the level of additional cuts being proposed this session, the state will have cut higher-education funding by 50 percent since 2008.

Losing edge?

College administrators say they've mitigated impacts by cutting support services, paring back administrators, eliminating low-enrollment programs, dropping teaching assistants and reorganizing departments.

But some students say the state's schools already are losing their edge.

Cutbacks have hit hard at EWU, a school of about 10,000 students in Cheney. Many students have part-time jobs to make ends meet, and find that work schedules increasingly clash with a smaller slate of class offerings. Students say they have to remain in school another quarter — or even another year — to finish their degrees.

Seven EWU students who came to Olympia last week say more professors are using multiple-choice tests because class sizes are so large that professors don't have time to grade essay questions.

"It's a different school," EWU senior Nathan Bouscal said of the cuts. "We're paying more for less."

Even though he's worked part time or full time while going to school, Bouscal will graduate with $22,000 in student loans. He said he often skips buying assigned books, or borrows them from other students. He and many other students regard tuition increases as a tax on students.

"So many of my friends have thousands and thousands in loans," said UW senior Conor McLean, who joined UW students to lobby in Olympia last week. Although McLean says he will graduate on time, two friends who are majoring in engineering couldn't get the classes they needed to complete their degrees and will have to go to school for a fifth year.

Henry, the UW GPSS vice president, also has taken out substantial loans as he works on his graduate degree in the Evans School of Public Affairs, which has been targeted for consolidation. His biggest concern: If the quality of his school spirals downhill, his education will be worth less.

Student activists

Washington's legions of student activists write letters, call legislators, hold rallies, demonstrations and walkouts. UW students this year created a new group, Bark Against Budget Cuts, and formed a chapter of the WSA on campus for the first time.

But they're tackling an issue with few good solutions. Some students say they'd like to see some form of tax increase to support higher education and were dismayed that Initiative 1098, which would have created a state income tax for the highest wage-earners to pay for education and health care, failed at the polls last year.

"Both legislators and regents have our best interests in mind, but their hands are tied because no one wants to raise taxes," said Adam Sherman, a member of UW's WSA chapter.

In late February, UW interim President Phyllis Wise outlined a series of possible cutbacks to the university under the current budget scenario.

Cuts could include taking fewer in-state students, gutting or eliminating programs, or increasing tuition by 20 to 30 percent to make up for the shortfall.

"Hearing about a lot of these cuts is making people sit up and realize they are going to be hit hard," Smith said. "It's going to trickle down, to every student."

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com