Since the end of the Great Recession in 2012, there has been a strong backlash in most state legislatures to increasing tuition rates for public higher education institutions. After four years of double digit increases in Washington, our state legislature froze tuition for two years and then actually reduced tuition two years in a row during the 2015-17 biennium. In the current biennial budget, undergraduate tuition will increase about two percent per year, tied to the growth in statewide median income.
Our neighbors to the south in California are dealing with similar problems. While the University of California (UC) system is under increasing pressure to increase access for both incoming freshman and community college transfer students, funding from Sacramento has been less than requested and tuition rates frozen or held to a couple of percentage points like our state.
Last week, UC Regents took the controversial step of increasing non-resident tuition by 3.5% for the 2018-19 academic year, read article in the LA Times here. The move would raise $35 million which would be used to reduce class sizes and support more academic support and counseling. Gavin Newsom, California’s Lt. Governor, an ex-officio member of the board who is also running to succeed Governor Jerry Brown voted against the increase asking to delay the vote until the legislature completes work on the state budget.