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Peninsula College president says tuition cap, unfunded mandates have driven ‘unsustainable’ deficits
Summary
Peninsula College President Susie Ames told the State Board study session that a decade of enrollment decline, a state tuition‑growth cap and repeated unfunded mandates have left the college running multi‑million‑dollar deficits and requiring deep cuts despite launching new job‑training programs.
Susie Ames, president of Peninsula College, told the State Board the college has seen strong program expansion but worsening finances, saying the school started “11 new instructional programs in 3 years” even as it faced mounting deficits.
Ames credited local grants and donor support for program launches but said state policy has constrained colleges’ flexibility. She cited a 2015 legislative tuition measure that links tuition increases to statewide median wage growth and said it has “eroded the college’s ability to fill gaps in state funding and adjust for inflation.” She also listed six other pressures — under‑funded cost‑of‑living adjustments, an increasing share of restricted proviso funding, rising utility and supply costs, a rapid increase in the state’s overtime‑exemption salary threshold, loss of budget‑tracking functionality in ctcLink, and the pandemic’s one‑time federal aid — which together have produced structural deficits.
Ames described recent local impacts: the college recorded a $1,000,000 deficit on her arrival and saw roughly $2,000,000 deficits in two subsequent years; this year the college has enacted a 14% reduction following a 7% cut in June. “Our financial margins are so slim, especially at a rural college, that directed cuts to students and services is the only way we’re going to fill that gap,” she said.
Board members asked follow‑up questions about students’ reasons for dropping job‑training programs. Ames said the dominant cause in her district is the opportunity cost of work — students taking second minimum‑wage jobs to cover housing and childcare — and described the college’s efforts to retain relevance in a depressed regional economy.
Ames and board staff urged a coordinated advocacy push to lawmakers to address compensation funding and the restrictiveness of provisos, and to explore options such as revisiting the tuition cap or expanding stable revenue sources for community and technical colleges. The board scheduled further budget‑focused briefings and a retreat discussion on legislative strategy.
