Legislation that would provide Washington’s public universities the ability to set tuition sooner was voted off the Senate floor with unanimous support Wednesday afternoon.
Senate Bill 5079 would require the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to communicate the maximum allowable increase in tuition under state law to public higher education institutions by October 1 for the following academic year. This would allow universities the ability to establish tuition rates and finalize financial aid offers earlier in the recruitment cycle. Currently that doesn’t happen until May at WSU for an academic year that begins in August.
The prime sponsor leading this bipartisan effort, Sen. Braun, explained in his speech just prior to the 49-0 floor vote that:
“OFM makes the calculation in March of each year, so as the schools go through the admission and recruiting process, and they send their letters out in the Fall, they cannot say for certain what tuition will be…Instead of making the calculation in March of each year, let’s do the calculation in October so that schools have certainty as they make their offers of admission and parents and students have certainty as they determine what the best step is for them.”
The bill was supported by WSU when it was heard in committee in January. The bill now heads to the House. You can view the full remarks on the bill’s passage off the Senate below.