OLYMPIA, Wash. — Today’s students face a complicated decision when weighing the potential of higher earnings against the rising burden of student debt, coupled with uncertainty about how artificial intelligence will reshape the job market.
Even though Washington offers some of the most generous financial aid in the country, the state is falling short of its post-secondary enrollment goals. Tuition, textbooks, housing, and living expenses remain significant barriers.
“Overall, I would say Washington is far from the place it wants to be in terms of creating access for more Washington residents to this powerhouse labor market and economy that we have,” said Michael Meotti, Executive Director of the Washington Student Achievement Council in a recent interview, on TVW’s The Impact.
Despite strong enrollment at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus, Meotti said many four-year universities are struggling with flat or declining enrollment.
The 2025 state budget cuts are expected to reduce both the availability of financial aid and the number of students who qualify. Private college students could see 50% reductions in state assistance.
Lawmakers expanded eligibility for financial assistance to students with GEDs, but also authorized higher tuition increases.
While low-income students have seen stable or rising enrollment thanks to expanded assistance in recent years, Meotti said the 2025 budget cuts will slash assistance to middle-class students just above the cutoff who are also struggling with high housing costs.
“They can’t save and they can’t afford to write much of a check to tuition,” he said. “They need help doing this.”
Community colleges have seen the strongest gains in recent years.
A pipeline to career fields like nursing or welding, the state’s community and technical college system grew by 10,000 students last year, according to Meotti.
Artificial Intelligence
Since 2022, there has been a rapid expansion of access to large language model applications (LLMs) that can spit out English papers and computer code in a matter of seconds. The emergence of artificial intelligence has fueled predictions of widespread labor disruptions in many fields.
Major technological breakthroughs, such as the steam engine in the 19th century, are often overhyped in the short term, according to Meotti.
“I think there’s some people who think Armageddon is right around the corner. You know, a huge change is right around the corner. I don’t think that’s the case,” said Meotti.
He believes that AI will force colleges to find new ways to teach and assess.
What those changes will ultimately look like is anyone’s guess.
Given what AI can do now, Meotti said in ten years, “we will be in a different world.”