PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College had a direct economic impact of $44 million on Clallam and Jefferson counties in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, according to a report presented to the college’s Board of Trustees.
The college’s economic impact was up 15 percent from 2022-2023, when it was $38.23 million, said data analyst Amar Chinthapalli, who works in the college’s office of institutional effectiveness.
Students contributed $11.7 million, employees contributed $5.8 million and operating expenses contributed $4.5 million to the local economies. The total of those contributions and a multiplier of two — the additional income created in the economy by that spending — produced an economic impact of $44 million, Chinthapalli said.
With 323 employees, the college is one of the largest employers in Clallam County.
Peninsula College’s full-time fall enrollment this year is up almost 20 percent from 2023, President Suzy Ames said at the Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday. The biggest growth has come in professional technical programs, which include both degrees and short-term certificates in fields like business administration, criminal justice, nursing and welding.
Peninsula College’s grant program has led to plans to create a grants office and hire a manager to oversee it. The school was awarded six grants worth $198,000 and received $2 million in state allocations in 2023-2024.
Ames said four large grants the college received will start this month alone.
“This will not just make sure they’re each getting off the ground, but that they are in compliance with all the federal and state laws,” she said.
Meanwhile, discussions are underway with legislators about preventing the state Office of Financial Management from clawing back $28 million in funding it had mistakenly allotted to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, Ames told trustees. According to the OFM, recovering the funds would likely be in Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed second supplemental budget due in December. The 2025 regular legislative session begins Jan. 15.
The SBCTC also is requesting $90 million to support core college operational needs like upgrades to technology infrastructure, and $183 million for fully funding cost-of-living adjustments for staff and faculty.
At Peninsula College, the design and permitting for a space to house a new dental hygiene program is underway with the goal of construction being completed next fall, Ames said. The college does not yet have a start date for when classes would begin. That would be determined by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, which accredits dental education programs, Ames sad.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first chaired by Joe Floyd, a professor emeritus of sociology at Montana State University-Billings who succeeded Dr. Michael Maxwell, who stepped down after serving on the board for 13 years. Ames said the governor’s office has not yet named Maxwell’s replacement.
In April, Peninsula College will receive an evaluation team from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities for an on-site accreditation visit. The SBCTC requires all 34 schools in the system to adhere to the NWCCU’s accreditation standards in order to meet state law.
As part of the accreditation process, the college will be required to produce a comprehensive self-evaluation that details, among other things, student learning and achievement, institutional integrity, non-discrimination, library and information resources, administration and financial resources.
Peninsula College’s last accreditation was affirmed in 2018.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
