Federal Legislative Agenda

Federal Legislative Agenda

117th Congress – Federal Agenda

WSU by the numbers

(2020-2021)

Classified among the nation’s top 96 leading public and private universities for “very high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

  • Enrollment: 28,025 full time equivalents
  • Graduate student enrollment: 4,360
  • Tuition and fees: $12,170 with fees for resident undergraduate
  • Average time to degree: 4.2 years
  • Student debt at graduation (FY2020): $26,576*
    • 56 percent graduate with loan debt*
      • 77 percent of students are Washington residents (81.3% of undergrads)
      • 31.5 percent are students of color, including 35 percent of freshmen
      • 76.1 percent of transfer applicants offered admission
      • 28.3 percent of students are Pell Grant eligible

Performance and innovation

  • $360.52 million in total research and development expenditures, of which $151.13 million are federal in FY 2018.
  • WSU’s groundbreaking ROAR program is one of seven fully inclusive post-secondary education programs in the U.S. (only one in the Pacific Northwest), Roar is a two-year program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities It has been awarded a $2.3 million grant to continue its work helping students with intellectual or developmental disabilities have a fully integrated, on-campus experience.
  • The Federal Communications Commission honored a Washington State University-initiated partnership’s work to create drive-up broadband access at more than 600 locations statewide, among nationwide efforts to close the digital divide.
  • Further refining our relationship with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory by developing the WSU / PNNL Institutes
  • Working closely with industry leaders, including The Boeing Company, Alaska Airlines, Spokane International Airport and the Ports of Seattle and Portland, to develop and commercialize sustainable aviation biofuels
  • Partnering with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service to develop sustainable alternative biofuels
  • Tree fruit research at WSU supports Washington state’s $6 billion tree fruit industry, which is the state’s number one export.
  • WSU’s response to the need for innovative research in the wine industry supports an $8.4 billion a year grape and wine industry in Washington state.
  • Agricultural research at WSU supports a $46 billion industry that employs 164,000 people across the state.
  • WSU Online is now offering 21 degrees. Online degrees are no longer tied to the traditional academic calendar allowing students to access courses on a schedule that best fits their timetable