As it stands in the Governor’s proposed operating budget for the 2009-2011 biennium (HB1244 and SB 5600, pg. 91), the maximum eligibility level for the State Need Grant will drop from 70 percent to 65 percent of median family income. Throughout the current session, we have implored legislators to not let the limit fall. The Need Grant is one of the most powerful tools the state can use to increase accessibility of higher education to students. ICW’s research clearly shows that lower tutition does not inherently mean greater opportunities for students. A better way is to bolster financial aid programs, like the Need Grant.
Many of the legislators I have spoken to have asked where the money needed to maintain a 70% eligibility limit should come from. Should we take away from health care or K-12 education in order to fund higher ed? This approach is almost guaranteed unnecessary headaches than needed since it is a nearly impossible question to ask someone to choose between funding primary school or college. A better way to look at the issue, and one that I have emphasized repeatedly, is to look within the higher ed budget (approximately $4 billion) and see how resources could be prioritized to keep the Need Grant at its current eligibility limit.
The Need Grant is a flexible tool because Washington residents can apply it to public and private institutions, as well as textbooks and living expenses. Moreover, the Need Grant will not necessarily detract from public institutions because students can use the money at any college, public or private. Shifting resources from tuition dollars to the Need Grant simply gives more choice and flexibility to the students.
I only briefly knew San Nguyen (since he graduated from the University of Puget Sound when I was a freshman), but I remember how grateful he was to have received a large aid package (including the Need Grant). Despite the high tuition compared to state colleges, San recognized that UPS provided a learning environment to help him achieve his full potential. His aid package worked out so that San only had to take a few loans, debunking a common myth that higher tuition means more debt (pdf pg. 7).
It is important to remember that state tuition support is only a means to an end, not an end in itself. The goal is to provide the greatest affordability and accessibility possible for our students.
