Published February 2004

Budget request has enrollment aid for community colleges

SCBJ Staff

Within Gov. Gary Locke’s recently unveiled $192.7 million supplemental budget request is $19 million that, among other things, would allow community colleges to add enrollment, with the state helping pay the cost.

Typically, tuition covers about one-third of the cost of a community college education in Washington, with tax revenues picking up the rest. For the typical full-time student taking 15 credits, tuition costs about $714 a quarter or $2,142 a year.

The budget proposal includes $5 million for enrollment by students pursuing studies in general academic areas. That’s the equivalent of roughly 1,400 full-time students next fall.

Another $10 million is earmarked for students pursuing degrees in high-demand areas, such as technology, health care, science and engineering. Those per-student costs are generally higher, but there were no immediate estimates of how many students that amount would cover.

Cascadia, Edmonds and Everett community colleges would compete for some of the enrollment slots among the 34 community and technical colleges in the state.

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