Dive Summaries:
- A Washington legislative committee tasked with re-examining a law allowing the state's colleges and universities charge a premium for certain high-demand degrees met Tuesday, and four of its eight members may recommend that the measure be repealed due to the financial impact it could have on the state's prepaid college-tuition program.
- Two of the legislators also said they were concerned that higher tuition could discourage some students from majoring in a particular field--especially when it comes to STEM degrees.
- Only six members of the committee attended the meeting, but they must reach a consensus and make a recommendation by the beginning of the Legislative session on Jan. 14.
From the article:
Although the committee didn't come to a recommendation when it met Tuesday, four members said they favor taking away the right to charge different tuition rates for different majors because it could have financial consequences for the state's prepaid college-tuition program. Differential tuition was approved by the 2011 Legislature but suspended the following year because of concerns about its impact on the state's Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program. That program pays account-holders based on the highest tuition charged by a state institution to in-state undergraduates. It already is underfunded by about $600 million, or 79 percent. ...