One of the places where life will almost certainly change in Washington â€" and specifically Tacoma â€" is the halls of academia. Facing a monstrous deficit, Governor Gregoire has already instructed all universities in our state to prepare for 13 percent budget cut, but with a worsening hole most expect the cuts to go far deeper than that.

This, of course, will have widespread implications. Academic offerings are likely to be scaled back, upgrades and renovations are likely to be put on hold, people will lose jobs (UW president Mark Emmert has estimated anywhere between 600-800) and â€" perhaps most importantly â€" the price of admission for university students is going to increase. Gregoire and gang gave the go-ahead on a 7 percent tuition hike earlier this year, which has become routine.

But if students thought a 7 percent hike was bad news, Tuesday’s announcement that Gregoire supports a temporary tuition surcharge (rumored to be in the ballpark of an additional 4-7 percent) to help universities balance their budgets probably comes as the icing on the cake. While the governor contends that such a surcharge would actually help maintain current enrollment, and that federal tax credits and government grants would cancel the additional charges out for most students, all of this is more than enough to make your average college student wonder what it all means. And that’s not even counting the students of modest means, who don’t qualify for financial aid and won’t be helped by an increase in federal Pell grants. For them, nothing will cancel out.

How will budget cuts affect students at UWT? Mike Wark, UWT’s director of public relations and communications, says the most immediate pains are likely to be felt by students dealing with a decrease in services, higher tuitions, larger class sizes, limited class offerings and a longer schedule for graduation â€" though he also notes that nothing will be final until next biennium’s budget is set in stone, and the university plans to do everything in its power to stay true to its mission.

“The budget situation is severe,” says Wark. “These are all terrible choices. There is no real good news.”