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Higher Education: Final Funding from 2025 Legislative Session

WFSE Staff
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WFSE Members Stopped Devastating Cuts to Washington Higher Ed

Our elected officials proposed drastic cuts to Washington's higher education system in a misguided attempt to balance the state's $12 billion budget shortfall. Together, we fought back and won.

WFSE members from WWU, North Seattle Community Colleges, Spokane Community College, and the Evergreen State College testified at the Capitol to fight for a #WashingtonForAll and new revenue from the super-rich and corporations that are not paying their fair share rather than drastic cuts to higher education funding. 

  • The Legislature proposed 3% funding cuts across the board to four-year and community colleges. 
  • We brought it down to 1.5% with no mandate for furloughs from the Legislature.

Final Higher Ed Funding from Legislature

In the final budget, the legislature reduced state funding for all higher education institutions by 1.5% across the board -- not the 3% or greater originally proposed. Individual institutions may decide to accomplish savings with furloughs. We'll need to keep pushing college management to put frontline staff and student outcomes first:

  • UW: -$15.4 million
  • WSU: -$9.9 million
  • EWU: -$2.6 million
  • CWU: -$2.7 million
  • TESC: -1.3 million
  • WWU: -$3.6 million
  • Community Colleges: -$12.3 million

Evergreen’s budget was cut an additional $2.7 million by reducing the amount the college receives per resident student to be “closer to the average of the (other) regional institutions.” This is a far smaller reduction than the $9.2 million originally proposed by the House.

See What Was Proposed in the House, Senate and by Gov Ferguson 

Notes on the figures below

  • “Maintenance” dollars are those allocated to keep current operations going. A maintenance cut is when fewer dollars are being made available to do the same amount of work – it’s doing more with less.
  • “Policy” cuts and increases are changes to funding because of a bill or budget language.  In many cases, maintenance and policy cuts offset one another. 

Find the detailed breakdown on the numbers below here.

Community Colleges - House Proposal

  • $100,000,000 in maintenance cuts and -$29,055,000 in policy cuts. 
  • $27,167,000 total maintenance budget increase (.6%) $72,014,000 total policy increase (1.7%)

Community Colleges - Senate Proposal

  • $27,167,000 total maintenance budget increase (.6%)
  • $72,014,000 total policy increase (1.7%)
  • The state would begin fully funding employee compensation for community and technical colleges, which would be a HUGE windfall for these schools. Ever since the Great Recession, employee compensation has come 50% from the state and 50% from the university or college. The Senate proposal would bring back 100% state funding of employee compensation, but just for members at community and technical colleges.

CWU - House 

  • Approx. $2,000,000 total maintenance budget cuts
  • -$3,920,000 policy budget cuts

CWU - Senate 

  • $17,680,000 total maintenance budget increase (3.8%)
  • $27,144,000 total policy increases (5.9%)

EWU - House 

  • Approx. $1,000,000 total maintenance budget increase
  • -$3,473,000 policy cuts

EWU - Senate 

  • $3,258,000 total maintenance budget increase (.8%)
  • $15,545,000 total policy increases (3.9%)

UW - House 

  • Approx $30,000,000 maintenance budget cut
  • $21,211,000 in policy cuts

UW - Senate

  • $140,352,000 maintenance budget cut (-1.5%)  
  • $163,285,000 total policy increases (1.8%)

TESC - House 

  • -$40,000,000 in maintenance budget cuts
  • -$10,651,000 in total policy cuts

TESC - Senate 

  • -$42,506,000 total maintenance budget cut (22.3%)
  • -$33,184,000 total policy cuts (17.4%)

WSU - House  

  • $110,000,000 total maintenance increase
  • -$15,607,000 total policy cuts

WSU - Senate

  • $104,778,000 total maintenance budget increase (5.2%)
  • $159,565,000 total policy increases (7.9%

WWU - House 

  • Approx. -$1,000,000 in maintenance cuts
  • -$6,485,000 in policy cuts

WWU - Senate 

  • $5,664,000 maintenance budget increase (1.1%)

  • $26,204,000 total policy budget increase (5.1%)

What does a "cut" mean?

If these cuts are implemented by the legislature, the colleges will decide how to implement them. Furloughs are on the table and have been utilized in the past. 

WFSE along with a coalition of stakeholders are advocating to maintain employee compensation, avoid furloughs and minimize layoffs. 

Ferguson's Higher Ed Proposal

If these cuts are implemented by the legislature, the colleges will decide how to make those cuts. Furloughs would theoretically be on the table. 

  • Community Colleges - Reduction of 3% to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. Ferguson has been relatively silent on cuts to our community colleges so we will need to see what the legislature proposes when the House and Senate budgets are released the week of March 24
  • CWU - Reduce $2,000,000- compensation and central services support
  • EWU - Reduce $2,000,000- compensation and central services support
  • UW - Reduce $33,758,000- target reduction from UW general fund
  • TESC - Reduce $1,000,000- compensation and central services support
  • WSU - Reduce $20,823,000- target reduction from WSU general fund
  • WWU - Reduce $4,000,000- compensation and central services support

Summary Document

Line by Line Reductions