WICHE & Washington Celebrate 50 Years

Boulder, Colorado — The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) is celebrating 50 years as a force shaping higher education in the West. WICHE, along with Washington and 14 other member states, works collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for the West’s citizens. WICHE is the only organization in the West that focuses exclusively on higher education issues, from accountability to tuition and fees to distance learning and innovation. Its primary issue – access – has been one of the region’s most pressing educational and social issues, from the days of the GI Bill down to the present.

Washington has been an integral part of WICHE since joining in 1955. Originally founded in 1953 to broaden access to medical, dental, and veterinary schools for students in states that didn’t support such programs, WICHE currently enrolls more than 18,000 students in 13 professional degree programs, 134 graduate programs, and scores of undergraduate disciplines. Today, when our economy demands a highly educated workforce, WICHE actively supports the idea that every student should be prepared for college, and everyone should have access to a college education.

Washington’s students and their families are the primary beneficiaries of WICHE’s three Student Exchange programs: the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP), Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), and Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). They saved almost $8 million in tuition and fees this year through WUE, which enables Washington’s students to enroll in institutions in other states and pay 150 percent of resident tuition. More than 1,750 of Washington’s undergraduate students, as well as a number of graduate students, are currently enrolled in out-of-state programs via WICHE. Through PSEP, 13 Washington professional students are studying out of state in 2002-03 in optometry and osteopathic medicine. In addition, 74 PSEP students from other participating states are enrolled in Washington, filling slots in programs that have excess capacity and bringing over $1.2 million in support fees to Washington institutions; nearly 650 undergraduate students from other states are also enrolled in Washington institutions this year, through WUE.

Washington has been an active participant in several other WICHE programs. Washington was one of two states selected by the Pathways to College Network and WICHE to convene a state roundtable to explore access to higher education in a P-16 environment; the 2001 event was cosponsored by the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It has also been a key state in our project with the United Kingdom, the U.S./U.K. Policy Dialogue. Additionally, Washington representatives have been involved in other WICHE forums on accountability and accelerated-learning options for low-income and rural students.

Ten Washington institutions – including the University of Washington, Washington State University, Bellevue Community College, and others – are members of WCET (the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications), which advances the effective use of technology in higher education. In addition, four Washington institutions – the University of Washington, Central Washington, Eastern Washington, and Washington State – also participate in the Northwest Academic Forum, which addresses regional higher education issues and engages in cooperative resource sharing; a current effort, dubbed NEON (Northwest Educational Outreach Network), will broaden student access to higher education through an innovative interstate collaboration that taps the “anywhere, anytime” benefits of distance education.

More about WICHE

WICHE’s 15 member states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming – work collaboratively to promote innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions, strengthening higher education’s contributions to the region’s social, economic, and civic life. In addition to its Student Exchange, WICHE’s programs include WCET (Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications), an international leader in helping states and institutions use new technologies to improve education; Policy Analysis and Research; Mental Health; and the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC), a rapidly expanding trilateral initiative.

Each state has three gubernatorially appointed commissioners, who help guide the work of the commission: Don Carlson, state senator from Vancouver (WICHE’s vice chair for 2003); Marcus Gaspard, executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Board in Olympia; and Debora Merle, policy advisor for higher education, Washington Office of the Governor, Olympia, currently serve Washington on the commission.

In addition, WICHE’s Legislative Advisory Committee works to strengthen state policymaking in higher education, engaging legislators in the discussion of higher ed issues and seeking their input on strategies for interstate collaboration. Sen. Don Carlson, Vancouver; Sen. Jeanne Kohl Welles, Seattle; and Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, Seattle, represent Washington on this committee.

A legislative reception to honor WICHE’s 50th anniversary and Washington’s participation in the commission will be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 (concurrent with Washington State Higher Education Day), from 3:30 to 4:30, on the Washington State Capitol Campus in Olympia.

3/24/2003

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