WA budget cuts threaten Tri-Cities college students most affected by COVID pandemic

Tri-Cities college students may have more to worry about than whether they can return to classrooms.

The costs of the COVID-19 pandemic could end up spilling over into the classes available and how much they pay in tuition.

The leaders at Washington State University Tri-Cities and Columbia Basin College are worried the governor’s proposed budget that would require furloughs, salary freezes and other reductions.

For Washington state’s community and technical colleges, the $137 million reduction would mean staff and faculty would be out of work for 24 days during the next two years, said Jay Frank, CBC’s assistant vice president for communications and external relations.

The state is projecting a $3 billion revenue drop, and the governor’s budget proposes spreading cuts across the next two years.

For WSU Tri-Cities Chancellor Sandra Haynes, CBC President Rebekah Woods and Heritage University President Andrew Sund, they worry those cuts will only get deeper as the Legislature starts presenting budget proposals in March.

During the Great Recession, the state cut about half of its support for higher education. That required colleges and universities to shift most of the cost of a higher education back onto students, Haynes said.

While students have regained some ground in recent years, they still are responsible for half the cost of their education. And with more cuts on the horizon, Haynes said they are worried the state’s colleges and universities may be easy targets.

Pending budget cuts come at the same time colleges are seeing increases in costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as more mental health services, Haynes said.

They’ve also needed to provide more access to computers and the internet for students who may not have it.

“This trend is not going to go away. It will continue as we adjust to a post-COVID world of higher education,” Haynes explained. “So should the state enact more funding cuts, it would be a one-two punch to our budgets that would ultimately affect our individual students, our communities and our institution’s role in the economic recovery.”

In the face of COVID

The three higher education leaders said the students expected to feel the brunt of any changes are the ones already at-risk of leaving college.

“We know that it is our students, communities of color, low income families that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic,” Woods said. “Any reductions that would be made to educational pathways that exist for our students after high school is only going exacerbate the inequity that already exists.”

The state has taken steps to help those students in recent years. In particular, they noted the Washington College Grant, which pays for up to full tuition for low-income students pursuing a college degree.

They want the Legislature to keep that program going.

CBC and WSU Tri-Cities saw enrollment declines last fall.

Columbia Basin College enrollment fell 8 percent, or 476 students, at the beginning of the school years. The largest drop was seen in the college’s English language program, which lost 164 full-time students, a 60 percent decline compared to fall 2019.

WSU Tri-Cities was hit equally hard as it lost nearly 100 students, and started the year with 1,716 enrolled.

While the decline wasn’t as large as they feared it might be, a major reason is that many of the students work either part- or full-time jobs to support their families, Haynes said.

They expect to start bringing more students back in fall 2021 and are already starting to reach out to the students who have left.

“We’re calling them. We’re emailing them We’re texting them,” Woods said. “We’re doing everything possible to reach out to them to say, ‘Hey you need to get in. Let us help you.’”

The possible changes on the state level throw doubt on a goal to have 70 percent of students attain a certificate or degree after high school by 2030, Sund said.

Even before COVID, only 41 percent of the 2017 high school graduates are expected to meet that goal by their 26th birthday.

“Studies repeatedly show that post high school credentials are the best income predictors in society,” Sund said. “Those transformations we see them all the time. They bring a better quality of life to themselves and their families.”

Not only do they get better pay, Sund said they also see a lower unemployment rates during tough economic times.

Some good news

While college leaders are worried about potential cuts, WSU’s Director of State Relations Chris Mulick told the Board of Regents that there are reasons to be optimistic.

The governor’s budget didn’t cut as much as leaders had feared it would, and it funds the WSU medical school and money to operate WSU Tri-Cities’ new academic building when it opens later this year.

Mulick reported that the economy has proven resilient and if it stays strong, the state may be able to avoid deep cuts.

The state will have a better idea on March 17 when the next revenue forecast comes out. That will be what legislators use to put together their budget proposals.

This story was originally published February 15, 2021 at 5:00 AM.