With some of the lowest per-student funding in the state, Western Washington University will ask the Legislature to increase Western’s share of the pie.
The university’s state operating budget request, approved by the Board of Trustees on Aug. 16, asks for $21.4 million to bring Western’s funding up to par with Central Washington University, which has the second lowest per-student funding in the state.
Western currently has the lowest per-student funding of all public four-year institutions in the state: Data from Fiscal Year 2023 show Western’s was $8,949, while Central’s was $9,847, according to a Board of Trustees presentation.
Western is asking for $898 more per student per year, to the tune of about $10.72 million a year for the next two years.
Usually, Western’s budget requests to the Legislature are more targeted. But budgetary challenges this year have prompted leadership to put in this broader request to support and stabilize the base budget of the university, Assistant Vice-President for Strategy, Management and Budget Faye Gallant said at the Aug. 16 Board of Trustees meeting.
As of June, the university is projecting its recurring revenues will fall $20.5 million under the university’s recurring expenditures. Impacts so far have included the sale of properties and the contracting out of Western’s 911 dispatch services.
Director of Government Relations Nora Selander told the Board of Trustees on Friday that Western’s low level of per-student funding is not a new trend.
“Going back to Fiscal Year 90, Western has mostly been at the bottom of that pile for decades now,” she said.
Selander said this is a trend, not a policy, as the Legislature normally takes the last year of funding to higher education institutions and simply adds on compensation increases, while considering other targeted budget requests.
Selander said it’s unlikely Western will get the full amount, but the request will start a “conversation” on making progress toward that goal.
Western is also requesting that the Legislature fully fund compensation increases. Western currently receives enough funding to cover only 70% of those cost-of-living adjustments. Selander said there will be a coordinated push with the other public four-year universities in 2025 on this issue, as Washington’s community and technical colleges already receive 100% funding.
“With the high cost of living in Bellingham, these adjustments are key for recruiting and retaining high quality staff,” Selander said.
In March, students organized a protest to push for the state to better fund Western, and for Western to ask for more funding. Organized by Western Academic Workers United (WAWU) and other unions, the rally also called on Western to “prioritize fair pay and working conditions for the lowest paid and most vulnerable workers.”
Selander said the reception from legislators so far on the proposals has been mostly positive.
“On the whole, we’re finding people are surprised to find we have the lowest per-student funding,” she said. “… I think that means they recognize our strong reputation.”
But with the state having its own budgetary challenges, Selander said they’ll need “strong advocacy” to receive some of these requests. Initiatives to repeal the capital gains tax (I-2109) and the Climate Commitment Act (I-2117) also threaten the state’s funding sources, and as a result, Western’s.
Western is also asking for just under $15 million for phase one of replacing the university’s enterprise resource planning system, as well as $4.2 million for funding maintenance and operations.
The university’s capital budget request includes asks for $73.8 million to design and construct the Poulsbo Instructional Facility, $10 million for small preservation projects and $9.1 million for critical safety, access control and fiber optic network upgrades.
The Legislature’s next session will begin on Jan. 13 and last 105 days.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
