In Washington, the demand for well-educated employees will only increase over the next several years. In the decade leading up to 2012, healthcare occupations will see growth of 20 percent. Teachers will be in demand: nearly 9,000 new elementary and middle-school educators will need to be hired. Computer fields will undergo growth of 24 percent, while managers will see their ranks swell by 17 percent - over 20,000 new managerial openings will need to be filled in all. A report from the Business-Higher Education Forum, a coalition that includes some of the country's top corporate CEOs, states that an educated and diverse population is an essential competitive asset in today's global economy. Not only does a state with a well-educated populace see increased tax revenues from its (better-paid) citizens, it is also able to use the education level of its citizens as a powerful lure for business and industry - a way to build its overall economy. For that to happen, however, a state must make sure that all of its citizens have access to a college education. The question for Washington and other states is how, in a time of tight budgets, to meet the increasing demands on higher education. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) was launched specifically to address the shortage of workforce-training opportunities in medicine, dentistry, and other professional fields. Today, WICHE offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional options that help the West's states educate and train their citizens by promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions. This document highlights 3 WICHE student exchange programs which enable students to pursue studies in fields such as communications, education, engineering, biology, business, hotel/restaurant management, psychology, architecture, dentistry, graduate library studies, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, podiatry, public health, and veterinary medicine. (Contains 2 tables.)