10/8/15, 11:09 AMStudents seek more state tuition help - Spokesman.com - Feb. 19, 2013

Page 1 of 2http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/19/students-seek-more-state-tuition-help/?print-friendly

February 19, 2013

Patrick GrovesCorrespondent

Students seek more state tuition helpDay’s events in Olympia include rally, meeting with lawmakers

Shaelah Easterday has $150,000 in student loan debt. As a middle child with five siblings,she takes out private loans on top of federal aid because she pays for college herself.

“I just don’t want my tuition to go up, to be honest,” Easterday said Monday.

Easterday, 24, is a pharmacy student at WSU-Spokane and a 2010 graduate of GonzagaUniversity, where she earned a biology degree. She and other students from acrossWashington spent Monday in Olympia for Washington Student Association Lobby Day,which featured a rally on the steps of the Temple of Justice.

“We vote to put these people into their jobs and they should be listening to us,” said theorganization’s president, Shelby Pelon.

The group, consisting of student government representatives from each of the state’spublic colleges and universities, is pushing for greater higher education affordabilitythrough increased state support. Tuition rates have increased by as much as 66 percentsince 2007 at Washington’s public colleges and universities.

Students cheered as state Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, spoke about House Bill 1624,which sets a long-term goal for tuition to cost 10 percent of the Washington medianhousehold income.

“We’ve made the promise of higher education unaffordable to many of Washington state’schildren and families,” Pollet said. “And it’s time to restore that promise of affordableaccess to our higher education system.”

House Higher Education Committee Chairman Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, said the billwill get a vote in his committee Wednesday or Thursday. But its prognosis beyond that

10/8/15, 11:09 AMStudents seek more state tuition help - Spokesman.com - Feb. 19, 2013

Page 2 of 2http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/19/students-seek-more-state-tuition-help/?print-friendly

is unclear.

State Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, promised students at the rally that the SenateDemocratic Caucus will reinvest in higher education.

A part of the Senate Democrat’s plan is Senate Bill 5420, which would freeze tuition ratesfor the 2013-2015 academic years if the Legislature disburses $225 million among the sixpublic colleges and universities.

“I think the thing that we’re all really concerned about is the burden on middle classfamilies in terms of additional loans,” said Frockt, who is a co-sponsor of SB 5420.

The Senate Higher Education Committee approved the bill Feb. 15, and it’s now awaitingconsideration in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

According to the proposed legislation, the state covered 72 to 76 percent of student tuition10 years ago. It’s now just 36 to 37 percent, leaving students and their families to absorbthe rest.

The average Washington student debt upon graduation in 2011 was $22,244, according toprojectonstudentdebt.org (http://projectonstudentdebt.org) , a nonprofit independentresearch initiative.

Easterday was among the students advocating passage of HB 1624 and bills like it in theirmeetings with legislators.

“I just don’t think it’s right that people are in such debt they can’t even get out of it,” shesaid. “For something as simple as education, to me it’s a basic right.”

Get more news and information at Spokesman.com