Audience asks about agriculture priorities and student debt at Policy Summit Q&A

During the session’s audience Q&A, Leslie Druthill of the MacGregor Company asked President Elizabeth Cantwell how Washington State University will prioritize growth and innovation in agricultural programs — a core land‑grant mission. Cantwell replied that priorities should reflect the state’s diverse agricultural economy, workforce pipelines and research that serves economic needs; she said WSU was until recently the largest recipient of USDA funding and described integrating agriculture with veterinary and medical programs to address "one health" challenges.

A second audience member described family experience with college debt and asked how institutions advise students facing potentially crippling loans. President Robert J. Jones recommended clearer front‑end education about costs and highlighted institutional efforts to remove sticker shock and expand debt‑free outcomes, citing programs like Husky Promise at UW. Cantwell told families to compare a school’s sticker price to the average graduate debt and the share of students who graduate without debt; she said roughly 50 percent of WSU graduates carry no debt and that the average indebted graduate leaves with about $11,000.

Both presidents described ongoing strategic planning to expand affordable access and better align education with workforce needs. The exchanges were part of the event’s public Q&A and did not produce formal commitments beyond the presidents’ statements about institutional priorities.