The University of Washington and Washington State University have joined together for a new public-awareness campaign to promote the affordability of higher education in Washington state. The “Yes, It’s Possible,” campaign launched today with a string of joint activities designed to raise awareness of the importance and value of higher education and the higher education opportunities available to students in Washington.

“Students and their families read these headlines about the massive debt load that students are under and the exorbitant cost of getting a bachelor’s degree, and we’re concerned that they might be making decisions based on that when, in fact, our public institutions in the state of Washington are doing a fabulous job of keeping it affordable,” said UW President Ana Mari Cauce. “That’s the notion of, ‘Yes, it’s possible.’ We want them to know that if they want to go to college in our state, in our public universities and community colleges, it is possible for them to go to school and it doesn’t take crippling debt loads.”

Read more from UW News.

The University of Washington has been ranked No. 28 in the world and fourth among U.S. public institutions on the Times Higher Education world rankings for 2019. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings judge research-intensive universities across all of their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. Read more from UW News.

Congressional leaders have reached an agreement that will keep the government funded through early December. At least five full spending bills will be signed into law by President Trump before the new fiscal year begins on October 1 with the first package of three bills expected to clear the House with the adoption of a conference report this week. Read more from Federal Relations on their blog and check out their FY 2019 Approps chart here.

How is Seattle’s law requiring paid sick leave affecting take-home pay for the city’s workers and productivity for its businesses? Hilary Wething, a doctoral student in the UW’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, received a grant to examine the new policy’s effects.

In September of 2012, the Seattle City Council enacted its Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, which requires that employers provide their workers at least one hour of time off for every 30-40 hours worked. Workers can use the time for illness, medical appointments or critical care issues for themselves or a family member. Wething’s study seeks to learn how the law has affected workers in specific ways and how much they are affected, as well as if the effects vary for works across different industries and companies. Read more from UW News.

The University of Washington’s School of Oceanography is ranked No. 1 in the world on the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects list for 2018. Other UW subjects placed in the top 10 – including dentistry and oral sciences, biomedical engineering, library and informational sciences, clinical medicine, atmospheric sciences, biological sciences and public health. The ranking, released last week, are conducted by researchers at the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Read more from UW News.