State Senate Approves Bill To Allow CWU Students Equity In Access To Tuition Waivers

March 17, 2005

Contact: Robert Lowery (509-963-1487/fax 509-963-2301/e-mail: loweryr@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The state senate brought Central Washington University students a step closer to gaining the same opportunity as students at other state universities to receive a tuition waiver. Late yesterday, the Senate overwhelmingly approved Senate Bill 5609, which would increase the percentage tuition CWU is allowed to waive for students from 8 percent to 11 percent.

The bill's sponsor is Sen. Paull Shin. Co-sponsors include Sens. Joyce Mulliken, Karen Keiser, Mike Carrell, Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Brad Benson.

SB 5609 corrects a disparity in the percentage of tuition public universities may waive, ranging from 8 percent at CWU to 21 percent at the University of Washington. The difference is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"SB 5609 will enable CWU to help more students afford a university education," said CWU President Jerilyn S. McIntyre. "More than 80 percent of CWU students depend upon some kind of financial assistance to attend college. They should have the same opportunity to get a waiver that students at other universities do. This bill corrects a long-standing inequity."

The state provides nearly a dozen opportunities for public universities to waive tuition for students. Most universities reduce tuition through state-supported waivers: the state makes up some of the waived tuition revenue with money from the General Fund. In 1992, the Legislature froze tuition waiver authority at whatever level universities happened to employ at that time, resulting in significant disparities in state-supported waivers among public universities.

"The difference is worth thousands of dollars in tuition assistance for our students," noted President McIntyre. "Every penny of help we can offer students truly counts. That's why this has been a top priority for CWU. Clearly, it was also a priority for the state Senate."

CWU awards over 90 percent of its state-supported waivers to Washington state students and focuses more of its tuition waivers on needy students than any other single area.

Nearly 40 percent ($794,000) of CWU's waiver authority is dedicated to making college more affordable for low-income students. CWU uses 8 percent or $168,000 of its waiver authority to enhance athletic opportunity for women. State law requires universities to ensure that the level of women's participation in sports is within five percent of female enrollment.

McIntyre noted that since 1992, when the Legislature froze tuition waivers, tuition rates have doubled and universities waive twice the amount of tuition per student. General Fund support for tuition waivers, however, has not increased, so universities are now bearing about half the cost of tuition waivers.

College admissions are far more competitive than they were 10 years ago, and waivers help universities compete for students. CWU has more applicants than it can accept, allowing the university to increase the priority given to the most academically talented students that apply.

However, these students are unlikely to attend a school that cannot provide incentives - such as tuition waivers - similar to those of other schools. Boosting CWU's waiver authority to a level equal to its colleague schools will allow CWU to compete for the best students on equal ground.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved SB 5609, which is now before the House Higher Education Committee for consideration.