“Today’s Senate Majority Coalition Caucus budget proposal comes up woefully short for the UW and higher education. Of the $100 million in ‘new’ funding for higher education, the majority is derived from a 20 percent tax on our international students that we believe will price students out of their education and result in a loss of high-quality talent for our state. Even with this tax on international students, the caucus budget and its 3 percent tuition reduction provides less funding per student in the next biennium and several hundred dollars less than what was provided over two decades ago. Washington already ranks second to last in the nation – 49th – in funding per student in higher education. A budget like this will not allow us to maintain the excellence of the UW and meet the needs of our students, especially in building capacity for more graduates in STEM areas – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – and supplying our state’s critical industries with skilled and qualified workers. We can and must do better.”