Keep Washington's college tuition affordable

IN his inaugural remarks on Tuesday, President Barack Obama called for the country to "begin again the work of remaking America." The most critical area we must focus on is that of education. After decades of shrinking percentages of state support for public higher education, the nation is facing an educational crisis. My generation is the first in our country's history to be less educated than our parents. Those few lucky enough to graduate from college enter a world with mountains of student loan debt and an increasingly competitive global job market, often less prepared than their international counterparts.

The purpose of public higher education is to provide the state and nation with an active and informed citizenry with the tools necessary to develop creative solutions to many problems, whether they are financial, medical, societal or otherwise. Without significant changes to our educational system, affordability in higher education will continue to spiral downward, further exacerbating the recession.

A highly educated and adaptable work force is the key to Washington state's ability to weather this recession and emerge at the forefront of economic development. Due to the current financial climate, some have come out in favor of cutting state support to higher education while at the same time empowering universities to set tuition rates beyond what the state Legislature now permits. They deem this an option to save money while maintaining educational quality.

I firmly believe in the importance of quality, but this cannot be levied on already overburdened students.

The most obvious reason against institutional tuition-setting authority is that it establishes a significant conflict of interest. Such a move would allow schools to set their rates of revenue while minimizing the legislative oversight critical to the existence of public agencies such as universities.

The likely result of a policy change like this would be the establishment of a high-tuition, high-aid model similar to that of many private schools. The goal for such a model is that wealthier students pay a higher rate of tuition in an attempt to keep rates of tuition, after financial aid, relatively low for poorer students. While this might look good on the surface, such a move would have far-reaching negative consequences.

This slow march toward privatization will destroy college affordability in a state that already receives an "F" in that area from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education (NCPPHE). Study after study has shown the number one barrier to attending college is the published rate of tuition. While it is often not the price students actually pay once scholarships and grants are taken into account, tuition costs are nonetheless the largest barriers to students attending college.

These instances of "sticker shock" have been found to affect disproportionately students from minority populations or who are low-income. A 2003 congressional study on the "College Cost Crisis" found that "cost factors prevent 48 percent of college-qualified high-school graduates from attending a four-year institution, and 22 percent from attending any college at all." It was also determined in that study that by the end of this decade, 2 million qualified students would not be able to attend college because of costs.

Education should be the great equalizer, and we have the opportunity to establish a new era of educational opportunity. The NCPPHE has said that if all minorities in Washington state reached the same level of educational attainment as whites, annual personal income would increase an additional $7 billion. This is the time when we should be closing the achievement gap, not widening it. With higher education, a citizen can be more productive, more adaptable to change and less of a burden on state resources (such as basic health care and corrections) due to increased income potential.

We need a renewed commitment to higher education. We need citizens, university administrators and lawmakers with the political will to stand up and demand investment in the future of our children as well as our society. We need all stakeholders to sit at one table and create a solution that truly works for current and future students.

Hard decisions are being made every day, but the truth of the matter is that education is critical to maintaining our global competitiveness and economic well-being. Without a highly educated and skilled work force, America will continue to slide downward in the areas of innovation and economic growth. I urge you to call or write your legislators and ask them to preserve the quality and accessibility of higher education for years to come.