Incentive for on-time graduation more one-sided

Staring into the face of what has been dubbed the worst recession since the Great Depression, Sen. Paull Shin has a plan to ease some of the pains for students and schools.

Shin, a member of the Washington State Senate since 1999, proposed Senate Bill 5174, intended to provide an incentive to students and educators for on-time graduation.

If passed, the bill will give prospective students the option to enter into an agreement with state colleges and universities that would allow the student to pay the same tuition for the duration of their schooling as long as they complete their degree in the timetable agreed upon.

If the student does not complete their degree within the predetermined time, they will have to pay back the difference in tuition increases with interest. There is one exception. The student is off the hook if the school did not fulfill its obligations as an institution of higher learning.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Shin said. “Schools and students could save money.”

He argued schools will be able to save money through efficiency if students are coming and going at a normal pace.

Co-sponsor of the bill, Sen. Jerome Delvin, said the bill would help colleges and universities aside from the financial aspect as well.

“This bill would provide a way to measure the schools’ performances as institutions of higher learning,” Delvin said. “While holding the universities accountable for not performing.”

Not everyone agrees the plan would help the schools.

“I don’t see a lot of benefit for the institutions,” said Jane Sherman, Washington State University vice provost for academic policy and evaluation. “Washington State University has an average graduation time of four and a half years, with the most amount of students graduating in four years as it is.”

Sherman said near-certain budget cuts in the next biennium will make assuring a high performance by colleges and universities close to impossible.

“We expect to be losing some significant numbers of instructors,” Sherman said. “That will make for larger class sizes, fewer sections and some classes just won’t get taught. Students will be slowed to receive degrees because they cannot get into the required classes.”

If bill 5174 passes, many people –including Shin, Delvin and Sherman –think the institution would be held responsible for such shortcomings.

Sherman said the university is already in a bind and 5174 would not help the school to better serve the students. Instead, she said, it would put an increasing amount of pressure on a decreasing number of faculty members.

“Bill 5174 could also be administratively difficult,” Sherman said. “Because students who fail to receive their degrees in the allotted time are forced to pay back the difference plus interest, and I’m not sure the universities have the means to track that money down.”

Earlier this year, Gov. Christine Gregoire suggested a seven percent increase to tuition rates in order to make up some of the expected shortfall in the state’s next budget plan. Shin’s bill would potentially negate the revenue from increased tuition and, without a fiscal note on the bill, there is seemingly no plan to makeup for the shortfall.

Delvin said something would have to be done financially if the state was going to offer students this option.

The option to potentially pay the same tuition for the duration of a college education would be beneficial to students on a number of fronts.

For Shin, who earned a bachelor’s degree in three years, the driving force behind the bill is to give students an incentive to finish school and enter the job market earlier. Based off his own experience, Shin said it is important for young people to emerge themselves in the workplace as soon as possible to give them the best chance for advancing their careers.

Also, colleges will try to maintain a steady enrollment when the economic problems hit hardest, Sherman said. So, if more students are focused on getting in and out of college, there will be openings more frequently. Another way the bill could help potential students.

The financial motivation is another reason the bill would benefit students.

“It is certainly an advantage to students if they can maintain a flat tuition,” Sherman said. “In this economic time it may provide an even greater incentive.”

There are even skeptics who think the bill may not be as great of a relief to students as Shin foresees. Pullman High School’s college counselor, Annie Byers, contends it is not much help to students either.

While Byers said financing education is the most common hurdle for students who cannot go to college, she also said it is not because tuition rises, but simply because they cannot afford it in the first place.

Byers also said most students may not realize that tuition rises while they are in school.

“I don’t think high school students can look far enough ahead to think that this bill would be a good thing,” Byers said.

Sherman applauded Shin’s efforts to provide students with an incentive to take their education seriously, but she also said there may be a more efficient model to achieve the same goals. She suggested a tuition rebate upon graduation, instead of making the university responsible for collecting money from students who did not receive their degrees on time, and finding funding in the meantime.

Follow the bill HERE.


Contacts:
Paull Shin
360-786-7640

Jerome Delvin
360-786-7614

Annie Byers
509-332-1551 Ext. 236

Jane Sherman
360-534-2322

Larry James- Did not quote, but referred me to Sherman
WSU Associate Executive Vice President
509-335-5581