Bill to set tuition earlier now awaiting floor vote

Legislation that would allow Washington’s public universities to set tuition sooner was unanimously moved out of Senate Higher Education committee last week and is now in the Rules Committee awaiting a floor vote.

Senate Bill 5079, supported by WSU, would require the Office of Financial Management to communicate the maximum allowable increase in tuition under state law to public higher education institutions by October 1 for the following academic year. Currently, the cap is not communicated until May, just months before students arrive on campus.

Setting tuition rates sooner means financial packages can be prepared sooner and prospective students can learn financial impacts before they decide whether to pursue a college education at all.

ASWSU Director of Legislative Affairs, Collin Bannister testified in support of this bill along with Council of Presidents Interim Executive Director Ruben Flores during its hearing on January 11th. They both touched on the positive impact to the students should the bill be passed. You can find more on the testimony from this hearing and its impact here.