One tool student interns will use is the ICW Legislative Action Center.

Independent Colleges of Washington seeks 10 student advocacy interns, one from each member college, to organize students to be advocates for state financial aid programs. The weak economy has resulted in plunging revenue for the state, and higher education has seen state support reduced in recent years. In 2010, with the help of student advocates, we turned back proposals to essentially gut state aid programs. The governor is writing a budget proposal right now, and when the legislature convenes in January it will face a budget deficit of more than $4 billion. Student aid may well be on the chopping block again. If students can make their voices heard in Olympia, we can protect and possibly even enhance student aid programs at a time when they’re most desperately needed. Stable or enhanced aid will help students keep studying at the outstanding private college of their choice.

Our student advocacy interns will be responsible for organizing others from their colleges to contact their legislators and the governor and explain the importance of financial aid. Desired outcomes include:

• Students make face-to-face visits with legislators, either in their district office, at events on campus or in the community, or during the legislative session in Olympia
• Students send messages to the governor and legislators, through the ICW Advocacy Center or by written note or phone call
• Students help put a real face on student aid by lending their likenesses and stories to such collateral as ICW student aid all-star cards or by making advocacy videos and posting them to the Save Student Aid Facebook page
• Students sign up for the ICW Advocacy Center, and like the ICW and Save Student Aid Facebook pages

Each intern will be compensated $400 for their efforts in organizing, paid in $100 increments monthly at the end of December, January, February, and March and based on adequate progress on the outcomes above. Adequate progress in any given month means accomplishments on at least one of the outcomes: At least 10 students meet in person with a legislator, at least 25 students send messages through the advocacy center, students post at least one advocacy video, or recruit at least 75 followers for the ICW and Save Student Aid Facebook pages. In addition, the most successful interns can earn a bonus based on the outcomes, with in-person meetings and written contacts having the most weight in the ICW analysis of these efforts. The most successful intern will earn a bonus of $500, second $300, and third $200.

Interns will report to and receive advice and support from Greg Scheiderer, ICW vice president and lead staff on government relations. Monthly reports to be made on-line.

Background: Independent Colleges of Washington is an association of 10 private, nonprofit colleges in the state. Members of the association are Gonzaga University, Heritage University, Pacific Lutheran University, Saint Martin’s University, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle University, University of Puget Sound, Walla Walla University, Whitman College, and Whitworth University.

The mission of Independent Colleges of Washington is to provide educational opportunity, choice, and success for students. We accomplish this by securing financial resources for students, advocating for public policy that supports students, building strategic collaborations, and by telling the compelling story of high-quality academically rigorous independent higher education.

To apply: Send resume to Info@ICWashington.org.  Include a cover letter telling us why you should be selected from your campus.  E-mail note of recommendation from someone in financial aid or other administrative office on your campus a plus.  Applications will be considered through December, with priority given to early applications.

Finances will be a little tighter this fall for some students who rely on work-study jobs to help pay for their college education. According to a story posted today on the U.S. News website, the number of federally funded work-study jobs will drop by about 162,000, to a total of 768,000 for the upcoming academic year.

Our friends at Student Workers Solidarity, organized by a group of students from Seattle Pacific University, played a key role in protecting Washington state financial aid programs this year. Will they have to march on Olympia again in 2011?

The story quotes a U.S. Department of Education official as saying the reduction merely reflects a return to the “historical norm” for work study, which was boosted last year by federal stimulus funds. Maybe so, but it’s still a hit for those 162,000 students who will have to figure out some other way to earn money for college.

Here in Washington this amounts to a double whammy on students, as funding for the State Work Study program also was reduced for this fall by about 30 percent. That’s not necessarily a 30 percent reduction in jobs, as part of the savings is being achieved by asking the employers to pay more, and booting nonresident students out of  the program. Part of the rationale for that was that nonresidents could still get federal work study—less likely now, given today’s news.

This on the heels of news that 15,000 students eligible for the State Need Grant program did not receive grants last year, despite generous funding from the legislature. Need is simply out-pacing available cash.

There’s some good news. Private colleges continue to invest more money in institutional financial aid, and the net cost of attending independent institutions has actually dropped in recent years. Here at Independent Colleges of Washington we again topped $1 million in fundraising for scholarships in our just-completed fiscal year.

There are a number of ways that you can help protect financial aid programs and help bring opportunity, choice, and success for college students:

• Follow the work of the Governor’s Committee on Transforming Washington’s Budget. Attend one of its hearings or write in and let them know that student aid is important and effective.
• Sign up to become an ICW Advocate on our grassroots Legislative Action Center. We’ll keep you posted about the progress of financial aid issues and let you know when your letters or phone calls will be most effective. With a projected budget deficit of $3 billion for the next biennium, financial aid programs could again be on the chopping block.
• Keep an eye on this blog, our SaveStudentAid.org website, and our friends at Student Workers Solidarity for the latest news on student aid issues.
• Contribute to scholarships through Independent Colleges of Washington. It’s an easy, one-click process!

Help us keep high-quality, academically rigorous independent higher education possible for all students, regardless of their financial resources.

Higher education has been on the defensive for the last couple of state budgets, and recent economic projections suggest we may be in for another battle when the legislature convenes in 2011—or sooner.

We hope the legislature is able to find a pot of gold to support funding for financial aid programs. That makes it possible for students to find the real treasure at the end of the rainbow: a great education. Photo: Whitman College.

Governor Gregoire’s office is now projecting a $3 billion budget deficit for the 2011-13 biennium, based on an updated revenue forecast issued yesterday. That forecast came in about $200 million less than expected, despite tax increases enacted to help patch a $2.8 billion shortfall this year.

The state has enough in reserve to limp through the rest of the current budget, unless Congress doesn’t come through with some help with Medicaid that budget writers were counting on but that appears increasingly in doubt. If the federal dollars don’t come through, the legislature would have to convene for another special session to make more cuts, or the governor could impose across-the-board reductions.

State economist Arun Raha is a pretty good comedian, and always delivers his almost-always-bad news with a dose of humor. “The good news is, things are getting worse slower,” he said yesterday, according to The Olympian.

Those interested in protecting funding for Washington student aid programs can help out by signing up to become an Independent Colleges of Washington Advocate today! Through this service, we’ll keep you up-to-date on what’s happening in Olympia, and let you know when an email, letter, or call to your legislature would be most effective in making the case for student aid. Over the last couple of years ICW Advocates have used the system to send more than 5,000 messages to the governor and legislators, and that’s a big part of the reason we’ve been able to largely protect financial aid funding despite the budget shortfalls.

Won’t you join us today? It takes just minutes, the messages are occasional, and the system makes it easy for you to make your voice heard. Help us provide choice, opportunity, and success for Washington students!

Editor,

During even the best of economic times, good and important causes compete for limited resources. In what are arguably the worst circumstances the state has faced for generations, the Governor and the Legislature are faced with impossible choices. We are therefore grateful for and support the Governor’s revised budget request, which restores funding for the State Need Grant for low-income college students.

This revision recognizes the essential role higher education plays in equipping the next generation of educated citizens to revitalize Washington’s economy. State Need Grants open the door for students to attend Washington’s great public and independent institutions. Gonzaga and Whitworth receive no direct funds from the state; many students who attend our schools are able to do so because State Need Grants – in combination with our own financial assistance – make college affordable, ease the burden on taxpayers, and create additional capacity for enrollments at public institutions. Over 73,000 students statewide benefit from the State Need Grant program.

We urge the legislature to restore funding for the State Work Study program as well. Students earn financial aid and gain valuable work experience; employers throughout the state and city, particularly those in key social and service agencies, are able to serve clients at organizations such as the YWCA, Spokane Mental Health, and the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.

In tough economic times, investment in aid to students is one of the smartest, and most strategic, investments we can make to create a brighter future for Spokane and the state.

Bill Robinson
President, Whitworth University

Thayne McCulloh
President, Gonzaga University

Submitted February 26, 2010

Kilmer

A group of students, including a delegation from Seattle Pacific University, gathered in Olympia for higher education advocacy day last Friday. They heard a passionate speech from State Sen. Derek Kilmer, chair of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee, in support of the State Need Grant, State Work Study, and other financial aid programs.

Kilmer correctly noted that financial aid is the key to keeping college affordable for many students of modest means. He urged the students to push their legislators to commit to funding for the Need Grant, Work Study, and other financial aid programs in the new state budget.

You can watch Kilmer’s entire speech below.

You can still be an effective advocate even if you can’t visit Olympia. Use Independent Colleges of Washington’s Legislative Action Center to send messages to the governor and your legislators, asking for their support of student aid programs.

Todd Ruberg

Everyone needs to step up and do their part to support higher education. That’s the messge from Todd Ruberg, general manager of customer business development at Procter & Gamble in Issaquah, who also serves on the board of directors of Independent Colleges of Washington.

Ruberg writes in an opinion column, published today in the Puget Sound Business Journal, that it’s important to provide rigorous educational opportunities for the many bright young people in our state. While the legislature did well in funding financial aid programs in the new state budget, he says the cutbacks in enrollment at public higher education institutions are disappointing at a time when employers are hurting for highly educated people. [Enrollment projections at Washington independent colleges look strong for the fall]

Ruberg adds that the buck doesn’t stop with the legislature:

There are a number of things that businesses and individuals can do to help. We can urge the government to give better support for higher education.

We can urge support for financial aid programs that make college accessible and affordable for low- and middle-income students who attend colleges, public or private, in our state. And we can and must take on some of the responsibility and do it ourselves.

Support colleges, and don’t forget private institutions which, while individually relatively small, together confer about a quarter of the bachelor’s and higher degrees earned in Washington each year.

Donating is easy, and 100 percent of gifts to Independent Colleges of Washington go directly to support scholarships for deserving students attending our 10 member institutions.

As Ruberg says, find a way to help. Our future depends on it.

That’s the title of an opinion column published in Monday’s Oregonian, written by Gary Andeen, our friend and colleague, the president and CEO of the Oregon Independent Colleges Association.

Andeen’s points echo our own:

With Oregon’s public colleges and universities facing an onrush of applications and reduced public funding, the state’s small private colleges offer students an often-affordable alternative — if only the state student aid program can provide the modest assistance needed to steer these students to the excellent programs and excess capacity of many of our private institutions.

It sounds like Oregon, too, is battling legislators’ knee-jerk tendency to favor students who attend public institutions, even though a low-income student who attends a private college actually costs them way less to educate.

It makes little sense that the Washington legislature is considering freezing State Need Grants for low-income Washington residents who attend state private colleges, while at the same time raising grant levels for all other students. It creates a financial incentive for students to attend a college that actually costs taxpayers more money.

Independent colleges are ready to take on additional students if financial aid policy continues to support students who make that choice. Don’t mess up, lawmakers. Continue to nurture the partnership.

Weekend news coverage of the state’s budget situation is not happy.

With the state’s official revenue forecast due out Thursday, Andrew Garber writes in the Seattle Times that the State budget comes down to unpleasant choices. And Joe Turner of the News Tribune writes that it’s time for a reality check, noting that at least one state senator thinks his colleagues are still in denial about the gravity of the situation.

According to The Times, state Sen. Rodney Tom says Democrats in the senate have at least considered cutting enrollment at state colleges and universities by 10,000. And Garber notes that:

“Higher education, public schools and public safety were touted as priorities for Democrats in the past. Now they’re targets for spending cuts.”

The term “painful cuts” has been a common theme in budget articles all session long. Learn how to help us make sure student financial aid doesn’t feel the pain—visit ICW’s Legislative Action Center.

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.

The US Senate has unveiled its version of the stimulus package.  Like the House package, the Senate prioritizes students attending college as an important element of economic recovery.  Inside Higher Education compares the packages for higher education.  The Senate provides new money in the Perkins Loan program, but not Federal Work Study or the unsubsidized loan program.  It also provides a slower increase in the maximum Pell Grant.  Link to NAICU to find your Senators and Representative and urge them to prioritze students in the federal stimulus package.

DeLona Lang Bell

ICW board member DeLona Lang Bell, who is president of CMBell Company in Walla Walla and also serves on the board of trustees of Walla Walla University, wrote an op-ed column published Monday by the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin spelling out the positives Washington’s independent colleges bring to the state, and building a strong case for continued fair and equitable support for financial aid for students who attend ICW member colleges.

The newspaper’s guest columns are not published on-line, but you can read a PDF file of a clip of Bell’s piece posted on ICW’s Web site.

With the opening of the legislative session ICW has a new on-line tool that you can use to help advance our legislative agenda. Log in to the Legislative Action Center and register to receive alerts and updates about key legislation and budget progress.

We have one active alert right now — students should sign up and send a note to the governor and legislators, thanking them for past support of financial aid, and encouraging continued support as more students are facing financial hardship in the down economy.

The governor has proposed reductions in financial aid eligibility. Help us turn that around to strong support for financial aid and all of higher education.