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Despite the seemingly annual increase in tuition for
international students, “State Senate leaders are proposing an
[extra] 20 percent surcharge on international college students
to subsidize higher education” as Seattle Times columnist
Katherine Long has noted. If passed, bill SB 5893 would have
a severe effect. “At the [University of Washington], which has
the largest international student population [in the state of
Washington], as Long argues, would increase the price of
undergraduate tuition by about $6,000 — to $35,000 a year.
State Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom firmly believes
that schools throughout the United States should support
similar budget measures. He estimates the “bill could raise as
much as $60 million over two years by levying a 20 percent
surcharge on international students” as Long, an editor for
Seattle Times pointed it out. However some university
representatives disagree with the purpose of the bill. Western
Washington University President Bruce Shepard stated, “it
simply will not work ... a further 20 percent tax will drive
away numbers of current foreign students, creating a hole in
budget revenues that will actually be larger than the
unrealizable $60M.” The absence of federal and state
government financial assistance, combined with strict rules on