News
September 16, 2002
Contact: Lorna Sutton, Director of Communications, SBCTC, 360-704-4310
Two-year colleges’ 2003-05 budget request calls for funding to expand enrollment
OLYMPIA – Unprecedented enrollment demand and the need to support the state’s economic recovery are the driving forces behind the 2003-05 operating budget request from Washington’s community and technical colleges.
Members of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges are scheduled to discuss and approve the two-year colleges’ biennial budget proposal when they meet Wednesday and Thursday (Sept. 18-19) in Olympia.
The colleges are asking for funds to serve the equivalent of 8,220 additional full-time students, with 1,320 slots targeted for worker retraining programs, 400 for health care workers, and 1,500 to meet the economic development needs of regions around the state.
A record number of students enrolled in 2001-02, when more than 480,000 individuals – the equivalent of nearly 165,000 full-time students – participated in programs, classes and workshops statewide. Enrollment in state-supported courses was about 9,400 full-time students more than the state funded the colleges to serve.
“With the downturn in the economy and the baby boom echo reaching college age, we are facing unprecedented enrollment demand,” said Earl Hale, executive director of the State Board. “The colleges are requesting additional funding so they can continue providing quality higher education to the people of Washington state.”
The colleges are working with business and industry across the state to identify their needs and provide the training required to fuel the economy, Hale added. Colleges have already begun expanding training for health care workers, but more money is necessary to meet the needs of the health care industry.
Funding to increase salaries for part-time faculty and to support education and services offered via the Internet are among the other items being requested by the colleges.
As developed by the community and technical colleges and the State Board, the 2003-05 budget proposal calls for the state Legislature to appropriate $1.2 billion in general funds. This is an 11 percent increase over the two-year college system’s funding in 2001-03.
The vast majority of the funds will merely continue current operations at the state’s 34 community and technical colleges, Hale said. The proposed increases include:
- $40.6 million to provide 5,000 more full-time enrollment slots across the state. This would serve close to 12,500 more individuals, since many students enroll part time.
- $14.3 million for worker retraining. The Legislature added 1,320 full-time enrollment slots in 2002, but this was a one-time increase. The colleges are asking that these slots be made permanent, given the state’s unemployment rate, projections for slow economic recovery and continuing demand for the program.
- $6 million to fund 400 new full-time slots in high-cost health care training programs. The Washington State Hospital Association has identified critical shortages for nurses, medical imaging technologists, medical lab technicians, medical records technicians and other health care professionals taught by two-year colleges. These programs require specialized equipment, low student-faculty ratios and other elements that make them costly to develop and maintain.
- $14.6 million to add 1,500 new full-time enrollments to support economic development. Two-year colleges are the state’s premier job training providers, offering programs in the skills needed for a competitive workforce. The colleges are working with business and industry in regions across the state to identify high-demand fields that are key to each region’s economy.
- $20 million to increase salaries for part-time faculty. While progress has been made over the past six years, part-time faculty salaries are still well below those of full-time faculty.
- $4.5 million to develop the infrastructure to support education and services delivered via the Internet. The colleges served the equivalent of almost 5,000 full-time students via the Internet in 2001-02.
Following approval by the State Board, the college system’s budget request will be sent to the governor and the Legislature. The governor will consider this request as he prepares his budget proposal, and lawmakers will review the package when they begin developing the state’s next biennial operating budget in January 2003.
The board will discuss the budget and other items in a study session Wednesday from 1 to 5:15 p.m. The regular session will be Thursday from 8:15 a.m. to noon. Both sessions will take place in the Building 22 at South Puget Sound Community College, 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia.
In addition the board has scheduled a dinner meeting Wednesday with members of the South Puget Sound Board of Trustees. All meetings are open to the public.
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The meeting agenda and background materials are posted on the State Board Web site at: http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/general/a_board/.
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