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Governor Signs Bill Making Tacoma, Bothell Four-Year Campuses
Gov. Christine Gregoire, '69, '71, visited the UWT campus today (May 4) to sign a historic bill that makes UW Tacoma and UW Bothell the first new, public four-year universities in Washington state in 35 years.
The bill, House Bill 1794, allows both UWT and UWB, along with Washington State University Vancouver, to begin admitting freshmen and sophomores for the first time. Lower-division classes will start in the fall of 2006. Gregoire, UW President Mark Emmert, '75, and UWT Chancellor Patricia Spakes spoke at the signing ceremony in Carwein Auditorium.
"I am committed to addressing the needs of higher education in our state," Gregoire said. "We've had a 'no vacancy' sign up at our colleges and universities for too many students for too long. We must create more room for students to get the education they need to compete in our 21st century economy. This bill, passed with strong bipartisan support, will help us meet that need."
"With passage of this legislation, our state has taken a tremendous step forward, not only by expanding access to a quality education for students in the Puget Sound region, but also in developing the two UW campuses and WSU Vancouver to their full potential," Emmert said. "The University of Washington now has to turn away too many qualified freshmen. We need to expand access to baccalaureate degrees for the increasing number of students who will be graduating from our high schools. UW Bothell and UW Tacoma will help us meet that demand for a UW diploma."
In studies mandated by the Legislature, UW Bothell and UW Tacoma found that hundreds of students in King, Pierce, Kitsap and Snohomish counties were qualified to enroll at the UW last year but were denied access because of a lack of state-funded enrollments. The studies showed that while serving transfer students will continue to be critically important for these campuses, UWT and UWB could improve access to baccalaureate degrees in the state by also serving freshmen and sophomores.
As a result, House Bill 1794, sponsored by Rep. Phyllis Kenney, chair of the House Higher Education Committee, passed out of the Legislature, paving the way for UW Bothell, UW Tacoma and WSU Vancouver to become four-year campuses.
By 2014, UW Tacoma anticipates enrolling 550 freshmen and sophomores, while at the same time adding 4,000 seats for transfer students. UW Bothell anticipates enrolling 635 freshmen and sophomores and adding 4,700 seats for transfer students by the year 2019.
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Return to May 2005 UW NewsLinks
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