麻豆视频

SBCTC Supplemental Operating Budget Request for 2026

Washington鈥檚 community and technical colleges ask the Legislature to keep our colleges whole by fully funding compensation increases for faculty and staff as they support our students on their journey to well-paying jobs that support themselves, their families, and their communities.  

Our top priority: Serving students

While we recognize the constraints of the current deficit, our colleges face challenges that directly impact our ability to fulfill our mission of providing high-quality, career-relevant, and accessible education and training to our students. To provide the education that students and employers want and demand, our colleges need faculty and staff who are well versed in their fields as well as classrooms, labs, and support services. With already tight budgets, legislatively-mandated compensation increases that are not fully funded means colleges have to make cuts elsewhere 鈥� whether it be student services, instructional programs, or critical infrastructure 鈥� impacting their ability to serve students and accomplish that priority.  

This year, the community and technical college system respectfully requests the Legislature return to its past policy of fully funding compensation increases as well as correcting a technical error in the enacted budget that underfunds academic employee cost-of-living adjustments. In addition, the system asks for support addressing escalating utility costs that are impacting colleges. 

These items are essential to maintaining instructional capacity, recruiting and retaining qualified employees, and supporting equitable student success. Without full funding, colleges will face untenable choices between funding mandated compensation and providing critical student services in areas like technology for online learning, software subscriptions, utilities, instructional materials, cybersecurity, and campus safety.  

Fully-funded compensation increases ($15.3 million)

We鈥檙e grateful to the Legislature for providing much-needed general wage increases in FY 2026 and FY 2027 for our classified and non-represented staff. However, with only partial funding of the general wage increase in the enacted budget, colleges must backfill the unfunded portion of these increases with tuition and local funds. With more than 80% of college operating budgets tied to personnel costs, colleges are severely constrained in where they can find funds for the mandated increases. To relieve that pressure, we urge the Legislature to return to providing 100% funding for compensation in the 2026 operating budget. Requested funds are for FY 2027.

I-732 COLA correction ($7.1 million)

Under RCW 28B.50.465 and RCS 28B.50.468, and reaffirmed by SB 5790 (2025), the state is required to fully fund COLAs for academic employees and classified employees at technical colleges under I-732. Instead, the 2025-27 enacted budget provided only partial state support and shifted the remainder to local tuition operating fees. This created an unfunded mandate. Therefore, we respectfully ask that the Legislature correct this technical error in the budget. Requested funds are for FY 2027.

Utility Rate Adjustments

Utility costs include expenditures to heat, cool, and light college facilities as well as for water, sewer, storm water, surface water, wastewater management, and garbage collection. These services are essential for operating and maintaining college facilities in good working condition. Utility costs are largely outside of institutional control and represent unavoidable expenses imposed by utilities and local jurisdictions. Over the last several years, rates for electricity, water/sewer, and garbage have consistently increased. 

As a result, utility expenditures across the community and technical college system have grown substantially. Continuing to absorb these increases without additional state support reduces funding available for instruction and student services. This request ensures that utility cost increases are funded, preserving institutional capacity to serve students and communities.

YVC Impact

Addressing these system priorities is of critical importance to 麻豆视频 and our 7,000 students. A lack of full funding will erode YVC鈥檚 ability to offer an excellent education and support services, such as tutoring and personal academic advising, that are essential to students successfully completing their degree or certificate. At YVC, 75% of students are the first in their family to attend college and 64% come from low-income households. Keeping our budget whole is important to maintain a quality education that enables students to achieve a better life and prepare the outstanding workforce that is necessary for the long-term prosperity of the Yakima Valley.  

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SBCTC Operating Budget Request for 2025-2027

Washington鈥檚 34 community and technical colleges are asking the Legislature to keep our colleges whole and to invest in core operational support and employee compensation. These investments are vital for delivering high-quality instruction and services to our 290,000 students, as well as for supporting the local communities and employers that rely on their skills and contributions.

Maintain previously approved state allocation ($28.6 million in fiscal year 2025)

We respectfully request the Legislature preserve funding already approved for our colleges in the 2023-25 operating budget for fiscal year 2025 ($28.6 million). A proposed rollback of funding due to a state budget error would effectively amount to a budget cut this academic year. Our colleges were advised of the error at the start of fall quarter and, by then, had already dedicated the funds in good faith to support programs and services, hire staff, enter vendor contracts, and pay for increasing operating costs 鈥� all in service to students. Rolling back approved funding for the college system would be a budget cut when colleges are already struggling to retain employees and manage rising costs.

Advance Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ($26 million)

Students of color have been profoundly affected by racial injustice, institutional barriers and the pandemic. Our ongoing, mission-driven work to advance equity, diversity and inclusion was strengthened by the Legislature in 2021 with the passage of Senate Bills 5194 and 5227. Additional investments will support further implementation of college EDI plans, close equity gaps, and improve the employment, earnings and economic mobility of students of color. In doing so, we will help create a more equitable and prosperous Washington.

Provide Fully Funded, Competitive Compensation ($183 million)

Faculty and staff are at the heart of our students鈥� success, but we are losing them to better paying jobs in private industry, K-12 schools, and other colleges and universities. Along with faculty, we are struggling to hire and retain administrative and classified staff who serve in crucial roles in financial aid, business operations, and advising. A salary increase of 6.5% for each year of the biennium, for a total wage increase of 13%, would help colleges provide competitive compensation, fill vacant positions, and reduce turnover. We urge the Legislature to continue to provide 100% funding for compensation in the 2025-27 operating budget. Otherwise, colleges would have to make budget cuts elsewhere to close the funding gap.

Support College Operations ($90 million)

Community and technical colleges urgently need additional, core operational support to cover the true cost of running a college. College operating costs have increased dramatically over the past five years and Washington鈥檚 tuition formula has not kept pace with the increases. Rising costs and capped tuition rates have squeezed college operating budgets and, within those narrow funding margins, colleges must dedicate a significant portion to unavoidable costs: About 80% of college funding is dedicated to salaries and a significant amount is tied to specific purposes under legislative provisos. Faced with rising costs, capped tuition rates, and inflexible funding, colleges have limited ability to secure or shift resources to where they are needed the most. Legislative funding for core operational support would help cover essential costs, ensure sufficient funding for student programs and services, and enable colleges to meet their unique local needs.

SBCTC Capital Budget Request

Preserve, Optimize, Modernize

In today鈥檚 rapidly changing higher education landscape, community and technical colleges need to offer safe, modern spaces for teaching and learning and provide the best training ground for new and emerging career fields. Our community and technical college system鈥檚 $650 million capital budget request is designed to meet both those goals.

Who We Serve

Anchored in local communities across Washington, our 34 community and technical colleges collectively served about 290,000 students in the 2023-24 academic year. We proudly serve a very diverse student population. Our students are more likely to be the first in their families to attend college, come from lower-income families, be people of color, hold down jobs while enrolled, and care for parents or children. The median age is 26.

Minor Works

Our request prioritizes minor works projects ahead of all other work to prevent or delay more costly renovations and replacement projects in the future.

In this request, our state鈥檚 34 community and technical colleges would receive funding for high-priority facility repairs 鈥� such as repairing or replacing roofs, windows, elevators, boilers, and mechanical systems 鈥� and to proactively replace campus infrastructure that is beyond its useful life, before it fails.

All colleges would also receive funding to modernize existing spaces to ensure they continue to be viable, relevant, and useful..

Major Projects

Our capital budget request includes funding for 12 major projects, starting with a study of possible solutions for Lake Swano dam at Grays Harbor College. Considered 鈥渉igh hazard鈥� by the Department of Ecology, the dam poses an imminent threat to public safety in the south Aberdeen area. A dam failure would significantly disrupt campus operations by cutting off utilities and access to several buildings and by eliminating the college鈥檚 alternate tsunami evacuation route.

The remaining projects on the list support space for instruction, labs, student services, and vocational programs in high-demand fields like clean energy, automotive technology, advanced manufacturing, and allied health. Nearly 241,000 square feet of the college system鈥檚 oldest and least functional teaching and learning spaces would be replaced or renovated.

Clean Buildings Act Compliance

Our college system seeks funding for each college to inventory energy-consuming equipment on campus 鈥� such as HVACs, boilers, and lighting systems 鈥� in order to develop Energy Management and Operations and Maintenance plans required by the 2019 Clean Buildings Act.

Owners of buildings that need to comply with the Clean Buildings Act are required to have a qualified person submit compliance reports for affected buildings, with the first report due in 2026. A second part of this request is to enable colleges to either train staff to become qualified to submit compliance reports or contract with others who are qualified.

YVC Impact

Maintaining the previously approved state allocation in the 2025-27 operating budget is of critical importance to 麻豆视频 students. Rolling back that funding would reduce our budget by approximately $2 million and erode our ability to offer an excellent education and support services, such as tutoring and personal academic advising, that are essential to students successfully completing their degree or certificate. At YVC, 75% of students are the first in their family to attend college and 64% come from low-income households. Keeping our budget whole is important to maintain a quality education that enables students to achieve a better life and prepare the outstanding workforce that is necessary for the long-term prosperity of the Yakima Valley.

In addition, 麻豆视频鈥檚 proposed Prior Kendall Hall project is among the system鈥檚 future capital projects. YVC is expanding enrollment capacity in its Associate Degree in Nursing program and recently launched a new Practical Nursing program, the only PN program in Eastern Washington, to help fill a critical shortage of these health care professionals in Yakima, Kittitas and Klickitat counties. These programs will be housed in the proposed project, which includes spaces that mimic clinical settings. In addition, the proposed building will feature a career center and IT collaboration space.

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