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Minority Report Executive Summary - Governor's Task Force on Higher Education

GOVERNOR'S TASK FORCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

MAJORITY REPORT

MISSION:

Propose a new financing system and accountability measures that establish the state's commitment to efficient, effective, and innovative institutions through the year 2010.

- From the Governor's Executive Order

July 24, 1995

GOVERNOR'S TASK FORCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

TASK FORCE MEMBERS

Governor Mike Lowry
Washington State Governor

Joe King, Chair
Higher Education Task Force
King & Crowley

Senator Al Bauer
Chair, Senate Higher Education Committee
Washington State Senator, 49th District

Representative Don Carlson
Chair, House Higher Education Committee
Washington State Representative, 49th District

Representative Tom Huff
Chair, House Appropriations Committee
Washington State Representative, 26th District

Representative Ken Jacobsen
Washington State Representative, 46th District

Senator Jeanne Kohl
Washington State Senator, 36th District

Senator Gene Prince
Washington State Senator, 9th District

Representative Helen Sommers
Washington State Representative, 36th District

Senator Jeannette Wood
Washington State Senator, 21st District

Ann Daley
Assistant State Treasurer and University of Washington Regent

Susan Johnson
Washington State Health Care Policy Board

Gary Robinson
Acting Director
Office of Financial Management

Mari Clack
University of Washington Regent

Chuck Collins
Chair, Commission on Student Learning
Former Chair, Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board

Rich Sonstelie
Chair, Higher Education Coordinating Board
Puget Sound Power and Light

Barney Goltz
Member, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

Juan Aguilar
Heritage College Trustee and President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Yakima

Carolyn Bilby
Bellevue Community College

Dick Davis
Pentzer Corporation
Washington State University Regent

Grace Yuan
Preston, Gates, and Ellis
Western Washington University Regent

Devone Smith
Federation of State Employees

Garrick Hileman
President, Associated Students of the University of Washington

STAFF TO THE TASK FORCE:

Sue Crystal
Higher Education Task Force Coordinator
Special Assistant to the Governor

Mike Bigelow
Senior Budget Assistant, Office of Financial Management

Jim Tharp
Budget Analyst, Office of Financial Management

Irv Lefberg
Coordinator, Economic Forecasting, Office of Financial Management

Jessie Brunswig
Administrative Assistant, Office of Financial Management

PART 1: THE CHALLENGE FACING HIGHER EDUCATION

After two decades of relatively stable enrollment, new demands for enrollment space are expected to increase significantly in Washington State's colleges and universities. In response to immediate and foreseeable demographic and fiscal pressures on higher education, Governor Lowry issued Executive Order 95-02 on July 24, 1995 establishing the Governor's Higher Education Task Force.

The Executive Order directs the Task Force to propose a new financing system and establish accountability measures to fulfill the state's commitment to efficient, effective, and innovative institutions through the year 2010. From August 1995 through June 1996, the 23-member Task Force met monthly to develop recommendations for funding, enrollment, quality, and effectiveness. This report summarizes the challenge facing higher education and the major components of the final Task Force proposal. For more information about the proposal, please contact Mike Bigelow at the Office of Financial Management, (360) 753-4702.

HIGHER EDUCATION DEMOGRAPHICS

POPULATION, AGES 17-22 AND 23-29: 1970 TO 2020

EXPENDITURE TRENDS

STATE GENERAL FUND, 5-YEAR ANNUAL AVERAGE GROWTH RATES, FY92 TO FY97

HIGHER EDUCATION: FUTURE NEEDS

HOW MUCH IS NEEDED?

The chart below compares these three funding scenarios.

1997 HIGHER EDUCATION BUDGET COMPARED TO 2010 FORECAST SCENARIOS

PART 2: THE TASK FORCE PROPOSAL

At its final meeting in Seattle on June 3, 1996, the Governor's Task Force on Higher Education adopted a proposal designed to maintain the state's commitment to higher education by stabilizing the funding base, providing for greater innovation, and instituting new measures of accountability.

REVENUE

The Task Force proposal diversifies the funding base to include three primary revenue sources.

The three funding sources for the new proposal are shown below.

REVENUE SOURCES FOR THE TASK FORCE PROPOSAL

EXPENDITURES AND PROGRAMS

Net New Growth in FTEs by 2010
Public Private Total
Higher Education Coordinating Board Master Plan 76,425 7,71784,142
Workforce Training and Education Board Vocational FTEs 9,432 93610,368
Total 85,8578,653 94,510

Need Grants - Revenues from the newly created dedicated fund will allow the state to gradually increase the recipient threshold for students in need. Currently, need grants are provided to students of families whose income is approximately 40 percent of the Median Family Income level. The proposal increases the recipient family income threshold to 75 percent of Median Family Income by the year 2010. These expenditures will grow from $57.2 million in 1997 to $163.6 million in 2010, including funding for inflation and enrollment increases.

Work Study - The Task Force encourages off-campus employment for work study jobs.

EFFICIENCIES AND INCENTIVES

TUITION

ACCOUNTABILITY

LINKING K-12 AND HIGHER EDUCATION

1"Presentation on Population Trends, Enrollment Projections and Funding Outlook," Prepared for the Governor's Task Force on Higher Education by Irv Lefberg and Mike Bigelow, Office of Financial Management, August 4, 1995, pp 15-17.

A full report of the Governor's Task Force on Higher Education, containing technical papers presented to the Task Force, is available from the Office of Financial Management, (360) 753-1802.

To obtain either publication in alternative format, please contact the OFM ADA Coordinator, (360) 753-5459.