Bill would provide guaranteed, one-year tuition

OLYMPIA – Washington students from low-income families should have access to higher education, and Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Kitsap County, has proposed legislation to create a guaranteed, one-year tuition scholarship for students who may be the first in their family to attend college.

“We need to let students know that they have options and opportunities available beyond high school,” Rockefeller said. “This bill would remove the financial barriers that prevent some of our brightest students from even considering college.”

Rockefeller is the sponsor of Senate Bill 5098, which would provide scholarship incentives for students from low-income families who maintain a C-average throughout high school and have no felony convictions. Students eligible for the guaranteed opportunities scholarship program would be notified of the requirements beginning in their seventh-grade year. Scholarships would be awarded to students graduating from public high schools and approved private high schools. The first scholarships would be awarded to students graduating in 2012.

The bill would utilize Washington’s popular Guaranteed Education Tuition program, which allows families to prepay for college tuition. In this case, the state would purchase credits for eligible students under SB 5098.

SB 5098 awaits a hearing before the Higher Education Committee.

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