FINAL BILL REPORT

SHB 1415

                                  C 245 L 89

BYHouse Committee on Higher Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Jacobsen, Van Luven, Doty, Anderson and P. King; by request of  Higher Education Coordinating Board)

Revising provisions for tuition fees.

House Committe on Higher Education

Rereferred House Committee on Appropriations

Senate Committee on Higher Education

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

Tuition and fee rates at state institutions of higher education are based on the costs incurred in educating students at that type of institution.  Students are charged a percentage of their educational costs.  The percentage varies depending on the type of institution the student attends.

The Higher Education Coordinating Board establishes the formula for determining educational costs.  That recommended formula is presented to the program and fiscal committees of the Legislature every two years.  If no action is taken by the committees, or if a disagreement exists, the recommendations of the board are deemed approved.

During 1987, the board and the institutions initiated a cost study for the first time in 10 years.  The cost study is used as the means for determining educational costs.  It is also used to allocate costs between graduate and undergraduate students.  As a result of the study, tuition rates for graduate students at the regional universities and The Evergreen State College are scheduled to increase by about 56 percent for resident students and 61 percent for non-resident students in the 1989-90 academic year. This increase will drive tuition rates for graduate students at those institutions above the rates for graduate students at the research universities.  Institutional personnel have expressed concern about the varying methodologies used by the institutions, and the outcomes of the cost study.

Community colleges may waive the non-resident portion of tuition for up to 100 foreign students.  Reciprocal placements are required so that the number of students granted waivers do not exceed the number of that institution's own students enrolled in approved study abroad programs.

SUMMARY:

During the 1989-91 biennium, tuition for students attending the regional universities and college is to be based on the undergraduate and graduate cost relationships developed by the 1987 educational cost study for Central Washington University.  The Higher Education Coordinating Board is directed to review and analyze the cost study for consistency and accuracy, and transmit educational costs to the institutions by December 17, 1990.  The board must also report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature by December, 1990.

The board is to analyze and compare the educational costs at the University of Washington and Washington State University.  The board must also compare the universities' tuition and fee levels with those of their respective peers, and recommend whether different fees should be charged at each of the two universities.

Beginning in 1989, criteria, definitions and procedures for determining educational costs are to be developed every four years, and educational costs studies are to be performed every four years.

No reciprocal placements are required for community colleges to waive the non-resident portion of tuition for up to 30 community college foreign students participating in the Georgetown University Scholarship Program.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      House 98   0

      Senate    45     1 (Senate amended)

      House 97   0 (House concurred)

EFFECTIVE:July 23, 1989