FINAL BILL REPORT

                          E2SSB 5781

                         C 15 L 93 E1

                      SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

Brief Description:  Improving access to public institutions of higher education.

SPONSORS: Senate Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators Jesernig, Bauer, Moyer, Pelz, Bluechel, Spanel, Hargrove, Drew, von Reichbauer, Snyder, Sheldon, Loveland, McDonald, Erwin, M. Rasmussen, Barr, Prentice, Sutherland, McAuliffe, West, Oke, Amondson, Haugen, Franklin, Sellar, Hochstatter, Fraser, Deccio, A. Smith and Winsley)

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

SENATE COMMITTEE ON WAYS & MEANS

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

BACKGROUND:

Over the past ten years enrollment limitations have restricted postsecondary education opportunities for this state's citizens.  During this period the proportion of the state budget dedicated to higher education has continued to decrease and, subsequently, the opportunity for citizens to participate in these programs has also declined.

Recent major technological, economic and demographic changes have exacerbated the need for improved training and education to maintain a high-quality, competitive work force, and a well-educated populace.  Modest and inconsistent increases in the budgetary enrollment limitations have been insufficient to keep pace with the growth in the state population and, as a result, the state participation rate in higher education programs has dropped dramatically.  In 1981 Washington was seventh in the nation in higher education participation; by 1990 this ranking had fallen to 29th.

The Higher Education Coordinating Board has adopted the goal of reaching the 90th percentile in national participation rates by the year 2010.  It is argued that the state needs to establish a statutory higher education policy to ensure the accomplishment of this goal and establish a significant budgetary commitment to the postsecondary educational system.

SUMMARY:

The essential requirements level budget calculation for institutions of higher education will include enrollment levels necessary to maintain, by educational sector, the participation rate funded in the 1993 fiscal year.  For any new enrollments necessary to maintain this participation rate, the essential requirements level budget calculation will, at a minimum, include a funding level per full-time equivalent student that is equal to the rate assumed in the state budget for the last fiscal year of the previous biennium plus an inflation factor.  The inflation factor should be equivalent to the inflation factor used to calculate basic education in the common school system budget request submitted by the Governor.

The essential requirements level budget calculation for state institutions of higher education will include a funding level per full-time equivalent student (for the base level of enrollment established in the previous biennium) that is, at a minimum, equal to the rate per student assumed in the state budget for the last fiscal year of the previous biennium, plus an inflation factor.  The inflation factor should be equivalent to the inflation factor used to calculate basic education in the common school system budget request submitted by the Governor.

It is the policy of the state of Washington that higher education enrollments must be increased in increments each biennium in order to achieve, by the year 2010, the goals, by educational sector, adopted by the Higher Education Coordinating Board in its enrollment plan entitled "Design for the 21st Century:  Expanding Higher Education Opportunities in Washington."  Per student costs for additional students to achieve the goals will be at the same rate as established for new enrollments which are necessary to maintain the 1993 participation rates.

Budget documents generated by the Governor and the Legislature in the development and consideration of the state budget will display an enrollment target level for each public college or university, and for the state system of community and technical colleges.  The enrollment target level is the biennial state-funded enrollment increase necessary to fulfill the enrollment goals set forth in the Higher Education Coordinating Board's enrollment plan.  The budget documents shall compare the enrollment target level with the state-funded enrollment increases contained in the biennial budget proposals of the Governor and each house of the Legislature.  The information is to be presented in the budget documents so that enrollment and cost information and the enrollment goals are prominently displayed and easily understood.

Formal estimates of the state participation rates and enrollment levels necessary to meet these enrollment policies will be determined by the Office of Financial Management.  The estimates will be based on procedures and standards established by a technical work group consisting of staff from the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the public four-year institutions of higher education, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, the fiscal and higher education committees of the House and Senate, and the Office of Financial Management.  Formal estimates will be submitted to the House and Senate on or before November 15 of each even-numbered year.  The Higher Education Coordinating Board is to periodically review the enrollment goals and submit recommendations concerning modification of these goals to the Governor and Legislature.

The essential requirements level budget calculation will include funding for state student financial aid programs.  The calculation should, at a minimum, include a funding level equal to the amount provided in the last year of the previous biennium in the state budget, adjusted for the percentage of needy resident students, by educational sector, likely to be included in any enrollment increases necessary to maintain the participation rate funded in the 1993 fiscal year.  The calculation should also be adjusted to reflect any increases in the cost of attendance.  The cost of attendance figures will be calculated by the Higher Education Coordinating Board and provided to the Office of Financial Management and appropriate legislative committees by June 30 of each even-numbered year.

Contemporary contracting enrollment limitations upon the community and technical college system are repealed.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

Senate    43   5

House     96   0    (House amended)

Senate             (Senate refused to concur)

House     96   0    (House amended)

First Special Session

Senate    38   2

House     97   0

EFFECTIVE:July 1, 1993