Sunday, May 24, 2020

State Colleges and Universities Face a Tough Financial Future

Washington’s public colleges and universities are bracing for a money crisis this fall that is likely to decimate higher education budgets.

Not only will schools likely lose some students — and the tuition money that comes with them — but the state is expected to slash funding, since higher education dollars aren’t protected by the state constitution in the same way K-12 dollars are.

With the coronavirus pandemic raging this spring, universities lost hundreds of millions in residence hall rents, meal plans, parking fees and sports tickets. At community colleges, many hands-on vocational programs were canceled. And at the state’s flagship University of Washington, which runs a medical center that has been key to keeping people alive, the hospital is expected to lose a staggering $500 million through September. On Monday, it announced it would furlough 1,500 workers.

The virus lockdown has also struck at the heart of what makes college years so satisfying — the intellectual rewards of wrestling with new ideas, developing a passion for a subject, building friendships with people from other states and countries, living on one’s own. In March, most college students were forced to return home, trying to make what they could of the college experience through the blue light of a computer screen.

When — or if — they return, campus is likely to feel quite different, with big lectures taught online, dorm rooms reconfigured to keep people apart and social distancing measures that will discourage parties.

“I’m a little worried people don’t understand quite how bad this is going to be,” said Western Washington University English professor Bill Lyne, president of United Faculty of Washington State, a faculty union for four Washington public schools (Eastern, Western and Central Washington universities and The Evergreen State College). A veteran of the 2008 recession, he believes a pandemic-induced economic downturn will be particularly hard on higher education. (...)

What the 2008 recession was like, and why this will be different

During the 2008 recession, higher education institutions were among the hardest-hit state agencies. State funding per student declined by about 35 percent in Washington between 2007 and 2012. Only five other states cut higher-education funding by a higher percentage than Washington during the recession years.

Colleges and universities laid off workers, eliminated academic programs, restricted admissions, increased class sizes, decreased the number of advisers, and froze faculty recruitments and salaries. Yet the crisis wasn’t ruinous for the system because state lawmakers also allowed four-year colleges to raise tuition. The UW increased tuition by 82% between 2008 and 2012, arguing the price was justified. Other schools hiked college costs by double-digit amounts, too.

After 2008, state lawmakers made a series of choices that included tuition rollbacks and a generous program to give low- and middle-income families more money to send their children to college. National leaders hailed those choices, but they will surely complicate efforts to stabilize higher education funding here.

In 2015, state legislators rolled back tuition by 5 to 20 percent over the 2015-17 biennium, making Washington one of the few states in the nation to cut tuition rates. At the same time, lawmakers passed a bill that capped tuition increases, tying them to the average annual growth in median hourly wages. That means that under existing laws, tuition can only be raised by about 2.5% this year.

Legislators are expected to return to the Capitol this summer for a special session to help fix the impending budget crisis, and it’s possible they could amend the law capping tuition. But leaders acknowledge it’s going to be hard to raise tuition much anyway, because so many families are dealing with dire financial problems too. “We’re in the middle of a crisis that, in terms of its effect across the population, is very, very deep,” Cauce said. “We’re not going to see double-digit tuition increases.”

Experts predict college enrollment will drop by as much as 20% at some schools, with regional public universities among the hardest hit. Students and their families are likely to demand, as some already have, a cut in the price if some or all classes are taught online.

by Katherine Long, Seattle Times | Read more:
Image: Donna Grethen/Special to The Seattle Times