Western students and Associated Students (AS) Board Members are concerned about future financial difficulties for students after the state legislature’s recent approval of increasing

Washington state universities yearly tuition cap to 14 percent for the 2009-11 academic years, AS President Erik Lowe said.

The increase in tuition is designed to help Western offset the state’s decision to cut its operating budget by $17.5 million. If Western’s Board of Trustees approves the increase, students should expect to pay an extra $600 each academic year.

“I mostly rely on financial aid,” Western junior Claire Russell said. “A lot of my tuition money also comes from grants. I haven’t had to take out any loans yet, but now I will probably have to.”

The AS board tried to maintain the 7 percent tuition increase, AS legislative liaison Morgan Holmgren said.  

“The 14 percent increase is tied with the largest in the past decade,” Holmgren said.  “This dramatic increase will force more students to take out larger loans, and more students will have significantly higher debts.”

In 2002, the Board of Trustees voted to adopt the president’s university operating budget, which included tuition increases as high as 14 percent to offset statewide budget cuts.

Currently, the average student at Western owes roughly $18,000 in financial aid debt upon graduation. With the 14 percent tuition increase, students could expect to graduate between

$23,000 and $25,000 in debt, Holmgren said.

“I’m going to be affected because this is my last year being supported by my parents,” Western junior Amanda Waugh said. “So it’s definitely not the perfect time for the increase, and I just don’t know if financial aid will cover all of my costs.”

While this dramatic increase in tuition is upsetting to many students, some understand the reasoning behind it, Holmgren said.

“I understand the college doesn’t really have a choice,” Western junior Andrew Bethman said. “I’m just glad I’m going to graduate next year. I’ve been taking 20 credits every quarter to get out of here as fast as I can.”

With the tuition increase, diversity in Western's student body could also be impacted, Lowe said.

“People who are going to be the most affected by the increase in tuition are students of color, first-generation college students and students from low-income backgrounds,” Lowe said.

Essentially, the university is going to shut out those people they are supposed to be serving as an institution, Lowe said.

“It’s upsetting because the economy is going downhill, and I don’t have the money to pay for this even though it’s necessary,” Western senior Sharon LeBeau said. “It’s hard to have to think about paying more when we just don’t have the money.”

Lowe said the tuition increase is a result of the crisis in leadership the students have when it comes to the state legislature; we need people in office who realize the value of higher education.

“No one cares about the future education of the state. It all boils down to getting re-elected, and no one is holding them accountable,” Lowe said. “We did the best we could as students. We need a legislature who understands the importance of higher education.”

When things get bad economically, education is the first thing to get cut, Lowe said.

“The university doesn’t have a choice; we are past the point where we can advocate for more money,” Lowe said.

Most students will see the value of higher education and will end up crippling themselves getting that education, Lowe said. However, making that choice ends up having some negative costs after graduation that many students are unable to anticipate now, Lowe said.

“Some will say ‘I can’t afford it,’ but more will put themselves in that debt,” Lowe said. “This means it will take them longer to afford homes, start families and people will be taking jobs that pay the bills rather than finding that job that’s important and meaningful to them.”

Western freshman Patrick Shelton is a first-generation college student and said the tuition increase seems unfair.

“My family and I didn’t even really know what we were getting ourselves into with this tuition increase,” Shelton said. “It’s just going to make it even harder on us now with me having to take out more loans.”

However, Lowe said there is a silver lining and learning opportunity with the tuition increase.

“Students need to realize how important it is to be knowledgeable of and participate in state politics,” Lowe said. “Relatively few people participate, and the result is a situation like this where the legislature is not held accountable and everybody suffers.”

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