Guest: Blind alleys in the state budget on college tuition

LAWMAKERS face the daunting task of equipping public universities to meet Washington’s demand for college graduates. But several fundamental misperceptions, particularly about tuition, are sending Republican and Democratic budget writers down blind alleys.

Policymakers have agreed that tuition has increased too rapidly in the past three years. But double-digit tuition increases were written into the state budget by legislators to partly backfill cuts to university budgets of more than 50 percent in just three years.