House budget helps higher education students

With the release of the state House budget, not just education funding has come to the forefront, so has higher education.

By including a tuition freeze for our state’s higher ed students, along with over $72 million to help expand the State Need Grant to an additional 6,000 students, House Democrats have shown a huge contrast with the Senate Majority Coalition.

The Senate budget did not include a tuition freeze nor any additional funding for the State Need Grant, effectively leaving out students and moving the costs onto them.

Without a tuition freeze, middle-class students from Clover Park High School in Lakewood would see their tuitions rise and their dreams get further away from them if they do not take out loans. A student such as myself, who hails from Everett and spent high school homeless at the Cocoon House, relies incredibly on the State Need Grant. They run the risk of not being able to break the cycle of poverty and achieving all they can be. I urge everyone to call their local state representatives and senator and urge them to support the House budget.

It’s the only one that looks out for the students and makes an effort to help the most disadvantaged among us achieve our dreams.

Director of Legislative Affairs for the Students of the Evergreen State College

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 6:25 PM with the headline "House budget helps higher education students."