Crucial to keep college affordable during hard times

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 12:13 AM PST

Jan. 7 Daily News editorial

Increasing numbers of people in this area are turning to higher education as an antidote for the struggling economy. Daily News education writer Leila Summers reported Sunday that winter quarter admissions at Lower Columbia College are up 20 percent from the previous year.

The enrollment spike presents a challenge for LCC administrators. The influx of new students comes at a time of fiscal retrenchment for the college. Faced with declining revenue projections, Gov. Chris Gregoire last fall ordered spending cutbacks at state colleges and universities totaling $36 million through the end of the current biennium. LCC was forced to trim its budget by nearly $360,000, or 3 percent.

LCC managed that spending reduction while accommodating a 17.5 percent increase in full-time students during the fall quarter. And college spokeswoman Sue Groth says they should be able to handle the winter quarter’s 20-percent surge in enrollment. “I don’t think we’ve set a limit (on enrollment),” Groth told Summers last week.

That’s encouraging, but next fall could present a much greater challenge. The projected state revenue shortfall has grown to $5.7 billion, prompting Gregoire to ask for another round of cuts for higher education in the 2009-2011 budget. Gregoire is proposing a 6 percent cut for community colleges in the budget year beginning July 1.

If the Legislature adopts the governor’s proposal, LCC will again have to get creative to avoid enrollment limits. But it could have been much worse. As recently as November, LCC administrators were told to prepare for a 20 percent cut over the next two years. That would mean slashing $3 million from the college’s annual $15 million budget. It’s hard to see how LCC and other community colleges could avoid limiting enrollments or curtailing course offerings in that worst-case scenario.

The governor clearly is trying to minimize the damage to community colleges in the next biennium. That’s good. The 2009 Legislature should do all it can to further soften the impact on higher education during this difficult budget year.

Higher education spending is a big part of the state budget and, accordingly, a tempting target for lawmakers when revenue declines. Legislators would do well to resist that temptation as much as possible. Community college budgets, in particular, merit protection. LCC and other community colleges play a critical role in training and retraining the work force. Keeping these colleges accessible and affordable is an important part of any effort to jump start and grow a flagging state economy.