Washington state moves toward free and reduced college tuition, with businesses footing the bill

Last week, state lawmakers passed the Workforce Education Investment Act, which would raise almost $1 billion over a four-year period with a surcharge on companies that employ highly skilled workers, such as accounting, engineering, architecture and consulting firms, and the technology behemoths that operate in the state.

The bill, which is before Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, would effectively provide free or reduced tuition for lower- and middle-income students attending community colleges and public institutions, new funding for strapped community colleges and eliminate wait lists for financial aid beginning in 2020.

“It’s a game changer for the state,” said Michael Meotti, the executive director of the Washington Student Achievement Council, a state agency that focuses on education.

Forty percent of high school students in Washington earn advanced degrees or certifications before age 26, and Meotti said the measure will “increase college-going success.”

Full tuition support and fees would be available for students from families of four earning about $50,000 a year or less, with partial scholarships for students from households making up to the state’s median income, which is about $90,000 a year for a family of four.

In most cases, people who have lived in the state for at least a year would qualify, as long as the purpose of relocating was not to attend college.

The fund would also apportion about $200 million for community colleges, public four-year colleges and universities, and apprenticeships, according to state Rep. Drew Hansen, a Democrat who sponsored the bill.

Counseling and advising services would be expanded to make it easier for students to complete credentials to get into the workforce, as would degree programs in high-demand fields such as nursing, computer science and engineering.

“I think it’s going further than virtually any state has to address both the challenge of affordability for students and the underfunding of colleges,” Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education at Temple University, said.

Goldrick-Rab said the measure was more flexible than other initiatives, such as New York state’s Excelsior Scholarship program, which requires applicants to reside in the state following graduation and only covers two- to four-year degree programs.

“This is a much more efficient and cost-effective bill,” she said.

Hansen said the bill was partly designed to help people in their 50s and 60s who have fallen on hard times get better jobs.

Hansen also noted that Washington’s proposal is more comprehensive than initiatives in other states, such as Tennessee’s Promise program, which offers two years of free tuition at community or technical colleges.

Tennessee’s program is funded by proceeds from the state lottery, but Washington’s will raise funds through a surcharge on “businesses that depend on higher education to survive,” Hansen said.

The state will implement a surcharge on companies in fields such as engineering, accounting and consulting that pay the business-and-occupation tax, which is a tax on gross receipts.

The largest tech firms would pay a higher rate, up to $7 million a year.

Ana Mari Cauce, the president of the University of Washington, told The Seattle Times that the funding will provide a cushion for financial downturns.

“We talked about the importance of this being the year for higher education,” she said, “and I think the Legislature did that.”

Inslee has, in the past, supported measures to increase funding for financial aid. He is still reviewing the bill, according to a spokeswoman, and could act as soon as next week.

While some smaller businesses and physicians operating rural clinics have resisted the increases, according to The Times, two resident tech giants have expressed support.

Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, said in a joint op-ed in The Seattle Times in March that he supported paying “a bit more” to the fund because his company and others in the tech sector rely on highly educated workers.

On Tuesday, Smith said in a statement that he applauded the Legislature “for passing a sustainable, recession-proof funding model that empowers our next generation.”

Amazon also endorsed the bill.

“We have a long history of supporting local education,” the company said in a statement. “We welcomed the constructive dialogue on HB 2158 and are supportive of the outcome that delivers increased funding for higher education in Washington state.”

Hansen said there has been “a lot of talk about free colleges,” especially by politicians.

“This is not free college as an empty slogan,” he said. “This is free college that is real, and funded by a dedicated revenue source, which I think is unusual.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.