OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington’s public colleges and universities face a bleak future under the budget approved by the state House.
Students face double-digit tuition increases, fewer slots for Washington natives and drastic program reductions.
The House plan to help close the state’s $5 billion deficit cuts higher education more deeply than Gov. Chris Gregoire’s original budget. It cuts $482 million, a blow that would come on top of several years of cuts and tuition increases. It would cut state support for higher education to the amount spent 20 years ago, when there were 32,000 fewer students at the six four-year colleges.
Higher education often bears the brunt of budget cuts because the state constitution protects K-12 education spending, and lawmakers are reluctant to make deeper cuts to health care, social services or prisons.
