Higher ed. admin. staffing

AN ACT Relating to reducing administrative staffing at 1
institutions of higher education; adding a new section to chapter 2
28B.07 RCW; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that higher 5
education is one of the great equalizers for reducing inequality, but 6
the cost of a college education has exploded making higher education 7
less accessible to lower class and middle class families. In support 8
of our public institutions, the legislature has provided extensive 9
financial support, including recently dedicating an entire tax stream 10
to the state's colleges. Because these institutions receive public 11
funds, the legislature and state taxpayers expect that they deliver 12
an education that is both high quality and cost-effective. However, 13
the legislature finds that alarming growth in administrative 14
bureaucracy has made higher education less affordable for families 15
and more expensive to taxpayers.16
The legislature further finds that since 1994, the faculty-to-17
student ratio increased 60 percent while the administrator-to-student 18
ratio increased by 245 percent. The legislature finds that 19
institutional priorities over the past decade have been excessively 20
focused on services that occur outside the classroom. The burgeoning 21
H-1668.1
HOUSE BILL 2065
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representative Couture
Read first time 03/28/25. Referred to Committee on Postsecondary
Education & Workforce.
p. 1 HB 2065
administrative bureaucracy and related costs have unnecessarily 1
increased the cost of higher education and are not aligned with the 2
mission of delivering a high quality and cost-effective education. 3
Therefore, the legislature intends for institutions to reduce their 4
administrator-to-student ratios to 2008 levels, the high water mark 5
prior to the great recession. In doing so, the legislature will 6
generate millions of dollars of savings to taxpayers and will reduce 7
the cost of a degree, making college more accessible and affordable 8
for all Washington families. 9
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28B.07 10
RCW under the subchapter heading "general provisions" to read as 11
follows: 12
(1) By June 30, 2025, each state institution of higher education 13
shall reduce the number of nonfaculty exempt employees to a number 14
that is no greater than the amount reflected by the ratio of full-15
time equivalent nonfaculty exempt employees employed by the 16
institution in fiscal year 2008, to full-time equivalent enrollments 17
served by the institution in fiscal year 2008, multiplied by the 18
number of full-time equivalent enrollments served by the institution 19
in fiscal year 2024. By this method, the number of full-time 20
equivalent nonfaculty exempt employees per full-time equivalent 21
student will be no greater than the institution employed in 2008.22
(2) For the general fund state appropriations to each 23
institution, the office of financial management shall adjust 24
allotments by an amount that conforms with the funding adjustments in 25
this section. Any allotment reductions under this section must be 26
placed in reserve status and remain unexpended. Each institution 27
shall make at least the following reduction in full-time equivalent 28
nonfaculty exempt employment pursuant to the reduction required by 29
this section: 30
(a)(i) The University of Washington must reduce nonfaculty exempt 31
employment by 45.4 full-time equivalents per 1,000 full-time 32
enrollments, resulting in a reduction of at least 2,381 full-time 33
equivalent employees; 34
(ii) The general fund state appropriations for fiscal year 2026 35
are reduced by $17,627,000. Tuition expenditures for fiscal year 2026 36
related to this reduction in employees are anticipated to be reduced 37
by $23,467,000; 38
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(b)(i) Washington State University must reduce nonfaculty exempt 1
employment by 24.5 full-time equivalents per 1,000 full-time 2
enrollments, resulting in a reduction of at least 563 full-time 3
equivalent employees; 4
(ii) The general fund state appropriations for fiscal year 2026 5
are reduced by $11,339,000. Tuition expenditures for fiscal year 2026 6
related to this reduction in employees are anticipated to be reduced 7
by $7,973,000; 8
(c)(i) Eastern Washington University must reduce nonfaculty 9
exempt employment by 20 full-time equivalents per 1,000 full-time 10
enrollments, resulting in a reduction of at least 128 full-time 11
equivalent employees; 12
(ii) The general fund state appropriations for fiscal year 2026 13
are reduced by $4,616,000. Tuition expenditures for fiscal year 2026 14
related to this reduction in employees are anticipated to be reduced 15
by $2,735,000; 16
(d)(i) Central Washington University must reduce nonfaculty 17
exempt employment by 26.7 full-time equivalents per 1,000 full-time 18
enrollments, resulting in a reduction of at least 206 full-time 19
equivalent employees; 20
(ii) The general fund state appropriations for fiscal year 2026 21
are reduced by $5,770,000. Tuition expenditures for fiscal year 2026 22
related to this reduction in employees are anticipated to be reduced 23
by $3,794,000; 24
(e)(i) The Evergreen State College must reduce nonfaculty exempt 25
employment by 43.7 full-time equivalents per 1,000 full-time 26
enrollments, resulting in a reduction of at least 96 full-time 27
equivalent employees; 28
(ii) The general fund state appropriations for fiscal year 2026 29
are reduced by $5,189,000. Tuition expenditures for fiscal year 2026 30
related to this reduction in employees are anticipated to be reduced 31
by $1,620,000; 32
(f)(i) Western Washington University must reduce nonfaculty 33
exempt employment by 0.7 full-time equivalents per 1,000 full-time 34
enrollments, resulting in a reduction of at least eight full-time 35
equivalent employees; 36
(ii) The general fund state appropriations for fiscal year 2026 37
are reduced by $398,000. Tuition expenditures for fiscal year 2026 38
related to this reduction in employees are anticipated to be reduced 39
by $359,000; and 40
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(g)(i) The state board for community and technical colleges must 1
reduce nonfaculty exempt employment by 13.9 full-time equivalents per 2
1,000 full-time enrollments, resulting in a reduction of at least 3
1,414 full-time equivalent employees. The board shall allocate these 4
reductions to the individual colleges based on the growth in 5
nonfaculty exempt employees at those colleges since 2008, and 6
allocate a portion to the state board based on the board's portion of 7
total nonfaculty exempt staff employed in the community and technical 8
college system; 9
(ii) The general fund state appropriations for fiscal year 2026 10
are reduced by $68,575,000. Tuition expenditures for fiscal year 2026 11
related to this reduction in employees are anticipated to be reduced 12
by $21,983,000. 13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act is necessary for the immediate 14
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 15
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 16
effect immediately.17
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