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Washington State had a dream that all its citizens will one day be able to go to college no matter what their financial situation is. There are people here raised on welfare and yet graduated from colleges.

Today, the situation is such that no longer can a hardworking average family access public colleges. Apart from the poor students who are extremely bright and the very rich, no other students have access to the on-campus experience in Washington. Public universities suffer from reduced state support and average families can no longer afford the cost of tuition. You are in fact lucky if you are below the median income as you have a chance of being awarded grants and financial aid.

Even if you are somewhere around the median income, you can still access loans. Though the tuition cost is still within reach, the cost of attendance is way too expensive. This includes the high costs of living expenses and books. In Washington, the cost of annual fee in public universities is anywhere between $18,000 and $ 25,000.

Not taking into account the inflation, most students who attend the four year university degrees spend more than $100,000 a year. Now, in this situation, how many can really access higher education in our country?

This generation is definitely not as highly educated as their parents says a report from the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board. This report studied the number of degrees earned per 100 citizens.

Washington State severely lags behind in providing its citizens affordable higher education. Taking into account the educated population that settles down here from other states, this state ranks 49th in enrolment of graduates and 48th in enrolment of undergraduates. This statistics is based on studies conducted taking into account the population between 17 and 64. It is quite evident that other states have more number of educated workforces and Washington is losing business to them.

It is imperative for the state to offer more support to the public universities here to stop them from transitioning to private. State support is also essential to ensure that the universities provide high quality education.

In terms of producing degrees per state dollars, Washington State public universities are highly efficient as compared to other states in our country says the Washington Council of Presidents. The problem lies in limited enrolments due to lack of state funding. While universities have the capacity to enrol and educate more number of students, they are limited by lack of funds.
 
Washington public must be made aware of this situation. They must realize how the citizens here have limited ability to access higher education due to decreasing state funds. It is vital to ensure that Washington wakes up and re-establishes its concept that every individual citizen must have high quality and affordable education access irrespective of their income.

Elected officials must ensure that every single youth gets college education. Every youth must be a part of this state’s educated workforce, which is the only way to progress and prosperity.