Setting tuition rates at UW
I am writing concerning The Times’ portrayal of the Associated Student Body of the University of Washington rally in Olympia [“UW students rally in Olympia to support higher ed,” Politics Northwest, Feb. 5], specifically with regards to our stance on Senate Bill 6562, which would grant temporary tuition-setting authority to the University’s Board of Regents.
While we cheer the bill’s sponsor, Derek Kilmer, we oppose the specifics of this bill. The ASUW believes that trusting the [UW] regents with tuition-setting authority is dangerous because they are not elected or accountable to students.
Our rally emphasized the importance of maintaining state control of tuition. Throughout the day, more than 250 students met with their state representatives and shared their stories on how tuition increases would impact students. Lobbying allows us to have a dialogue between stakeholders and decision makers about higher education. Currently, there is no mechanism for conversing with the regents.
Dialogue allows us to communicate to legislators, like Kilmer, that constituents support some of his efforts to keep need-based grants, while we oppose others like granting the Board [of Regents] control of tuition. With legislators regulating tuition, we can have the public discussion necessary to address the university’s daunting challenges.
— Blake Barnett, ASUW research assistant, Seattle