University may be able to raise tuition 16 percent

By STEVE BROWN

Capital Press

OLYMPIA -- The Legislature has cut $108 million from state appropriations to Washington State University.

Chris Mulick, WSU director of state relations, said handling that 26 percent cut will be addressed by the board of regents.

"The university will backfill that somewhat with tuition increases," he said. Two consecutive years of 16 percent increases are possible.

The regents will be considering options, Mulick said, and by late summer there should be some determination of any effect on agricultural research.

Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, a member of the Senate budget committee, said he was mostly satisfied with the choices and reforms in the budget package.

"It concerns me that the drop in (university) funding goes hand-in-hand with the granting of tuition-setting authority to the institutions themselves, meaning regents and trustees who aren't elected," he said. "This is a complete turnaround from 2007, when I won support from the Legislature for a 10-year tuition cap that lasted only two years."