What is the High Tuition/High Aid Model?
The general idea behind the high tuition/high aid model is to equalize access to higher education across all income levels. Essentially, the price of tuition would be raised to such an extent that substantial financial aid could provided to many more students, thereby creating more equality in the accessibility of higher education. In other words, students from higher income families (with the higher tuition prices) would subsidize the tuition of students from lower income families.



What are the possible problems with the High Tuition/High Aid Model?
The past decade has seen continually declining state support for higher education. While at first this model will increase access to public higher education for those with lower incomes within Washington State at first, declining state support for higher education will lead to the price of tuition increasing in order to maintain the equal accessibility to higher education or the removal of financial aid assistance for higher education. Furthermore, while this program will benefit lower-income students at the University of Washington, it will raise the price of tuition for middle and upper income students (who constitute the vast majority of the UW population), thereby decreasing their accessibility to higher education.

What’s the current financial aid situation at the University of Washington (UW)?
  1)$243 million in aid to 22,000 students (50% of student body) in 2004-2005

• 65% loans, 24% grants, 9% scholarships, 2% work study
• 74% from Federal Government, 15% from UW, 11% from State
• Federal Programs Statistics
• $18.4 million in Pell Grants to 2,200 students
• $15 million in Perkins Loans to 4,500 students
• 16,000 undergraduates and graduates received Stafford Direct Loans for the 2004-2005 school year
• State Need Grant Statistics
• $20 million in State Need Grants to 5,400 students
• State Need Grant serves students at or below 55% percent of WA State’s median income

Why is High Tuition/High Aid a legitimate concern?
The recently passed 2005-2007 budget saw a record $73 million dollars appropriated to the State Need Grant (serves students from families who are at or below 55% of Washington State’s median income). At the same time, funding for the Washington Promise Scholarship program was redirected to the State Need Grant.

Over 2,000 UW students received the now extinct Washington Promise Scholarship for the 2004-2005 school year. Primarily, middle and lower-income students are affected by the loss of the Promise Scholarship, which serves achieving students coming from families making 135% percent or less of Washington State’s median family income.

A June 18th article published in the “Seattle Post Intelligence” (see “UW on Tuition Increase: Let’s Talk”) reports UW President Mark Emmert has been pushing the high tuition/high aid model in his conversations with Governor Gregoire and state legislators, as of late.

Additional questions regarding the High Tuition/High Aid Model should be addressed to
Joel Murray, Member-At-Large of Affordable Tuition Now.

Links
UW Plans to Offset High Fees with Aid- King County Journal
UW on tuition increase article

Information Tables
Cost of Bush Reforms
Resident Undergraduate Tuition History (1983-2006)