AN ACT Relating to higher education; amending
RCW 28B.15.515; adding new sections to chapter 28B.10 RCW; creating a new
section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.
The legislature finds that the proportion of the state budget dedicated to
postsecondary educational programs has decreased for two decades. At the same
time, 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 to meet the challenges of
the twenty-first century. Therefore, the legislature finds that there is
increasing need for postsecondary educational opportunities for citizens of the
state of Washington.
The legislature declares that the policy of the
state of Washington shall be to improve the access to, and the quality of, this
state's postsecondary educational system. The budgetary policy of the state of
Washington shall be to provide a level of protection and commitment to the
state's postsecondary educational system commensurate with the responsibility
of this state to the educational and professional improvement of its citizens
and work force.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. It
is the policy of the state of Washington that the essential requirements level
budget calculation for institutions of higher education include enrollment
levels necessary to maintain, by educational sector, the participation rate
funded in the 1993 fiscal year. The participation rate shall be based on the
state's estimated population ages seventeen and above by appropriate age
groups.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. It
is the policy of the state of Washington that, for new enrollments provided
under section 2 of this act, the essential requirements level budget
calculation for those enrollments shall, each biennium, at a minimum, include a
funding level per full-time equivalent student that is equal to the rate
assumed in the omnibus appropriations act for the last fiscal year of the
previous biennium for the instructional, primary support, and library programs,
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.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. It
is the policy of the state of Washington that the essential requirements level
budget calculation for state institutions of higher education include a funding
level per full-time equivalent student that is, each biennium, at a minimum,
equal to the general fund--state and tuition fund rate per student assumed in
the omnibus appropriations act for the last fiscal year of the previous biennium
for the state-funded programs, minus one-time expenditures and 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.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. It
is the policy of the state of Washington that higher education enrollments 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," or subsequent
revisions adopted by the board.
Per student costs for additional students to
achieve this policy shall be at the same rate per student as enrollments
mandated in section 2 of this act.
For each public college and university, and for
the community and technical college system, budget documents generated by the
governor and the legislature in the development and consideration of the
biennial omnibus appropriations act shall display an enrollment target level.
The enrollment target level is the biennial state-funded enrollment increase
necessary to fulfill the state policy set forth in this section. 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 required by this section
shall be set forth in the budget documents so that enrollment and cost
information concerning the number of students and additional funds needed to
reach the enrollment goals are prominently displayed and easily understood.
For the governor's budget request, the
information required by this section shall be made available in the document
entitled "Operating Budget Supporting Data" or its successor
document.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.
The participation rate used to calculate enrollment levels under sections 2 and
5 of this act shall be based on fall enrollment reported in the higher
education enrollment report as maintained by the office of financial
management, fall enrollment as reported in the management information system of
the state board for community and technical colleges, and the corresponding
fall population forecast by the office of financial management. Formal
estimates of the state participation rates and enrollment levels necessary to
fulfill the requirements of sections 2 and 5 of this act shall be determined by
the office of financial management as part of its responsibility to develop and
maintain student enrollment forecasts for colleges and universities under RCW
43.62.050. Formal estimates of the state participation rates and enrollment
levels required by this section shall 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 of representatives and the senate, and
the office of financial management. Formal estimates of the state
participation rates and enrollment levels required by this section shall be
submitted to the fiscal committees of the house of representatives and senate
on or before November 15th of each even-numbered year. The higher education
coordinating board shall periodically review the enrollment goals set forth in
sections 2 and 5 of this act and submit recommendations concerning modification
of these goals to the governor and to the higher education committees of the
house of representatives and the senate.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. It
is the policy of the state of Washington that financial need not be a barrier
to participation in higher education. It is also the policy of the state of
Washington that the essential requirements level budget calculation 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 second
year of the previous biennium in the omnibus appropriations act, adjusted for
the percentage of needy resident students, by educational sector, likely to be
included in any enrollment increases necessary to maintain, by educational
sector, the participation rate funded in the 1993 fiscal year. The calculation
should also be adjusted to reflect, by educational sector, any increases in
cost of attendance. The cost of attendance figures should be calculated by the
higher education coordinating board and provided to the office of financial
management and appropriate legislative committees by June 30th of each
even-numbered year.
Sec. 8.
RCW 28B.15.515 and 1991 c 353 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The boards of trustees of the community
college districts may operate summer schools on either a self-supporting or a
state-funded basis.
If summer school is operated on a
self-supporting basis, the fees charged shall be retained by the colleges, and shall
be sufficient to cover the direct costs, which are instructional salaries and
related benefits, supplies, publications, and records.
Community colleges that have self-supporting
summer schools shall continue to receive general fund state support for
vocational programs that require that students enroll in a four quarter
sequence of courses that includes summer quarter due to clinical or laboratory
requirements and for ungraded courses limited to adult basic education,
vocational apprenticeship, aging and retirement, small business management,
industrial first aid, and parent education.
(2)(((a))) The board of trustees of a
community college district may permit the district's state-funded, full-time
equivalent enrollment level, as provided in the operating budget appropriations
act, to vary ((by plus or minus two percent each fiscal year unless
otherwise authorized in the operating budget appropriations act)). If the
variance is above the state-funded level, the district may charge those
students above the state-funded level a fee equivalent to the amount of tuition
and fees that are charged students enrolled in state-funded courses. These
fees shall be retained by the colleges.
(((b) Any community college that in 1990‑91
has an enrollment above the state-funded level but below the authorized
variance may increase its excess enrollments to within the variance.
(c) Community colleges that currently have
excess enrollments more than the authorized variance, by means of enrollments
that would have otherwise been eligible for state funding, shall reduce those
excess enrollments to within the authorized variance by September 1, 1995, in
at least equal annual reductions, commencing with the 1991‑92 fiscal
year.
(d) Except as permitted by (c) of this
subsection, should the number of student-supported, full-time equivalent
enrollments in any fiscal year fall outside the authorized variance, the
college shall return by September 1st to the state general fund, an amount
equal to the college's full average state appropriations per full-time
equivalent student for such student-funded full-time equivalent outside the
variance, unless otherwise provided in the operating budget appropriations act.))
(3) The state board for community and
technical colleges ((education)) shall ensure compliance with
this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9.
Sections 2 through 7 of this act are each added to chapter 28B.10 RCW.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10.
This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1993.
