The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Council" means the student achievement council.
(2) "Financial aid" means either loans, grants, or both, to students who demonstrate financial need enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a student at institutions of higher education.
(3) "Financial need" means a demonstrated financial inability to bear the total cost of education as directed in rule by the office.
(4) "Institution" or "institutions of higher education" means:
(a) Any public university, college, community college, or technical college operated by the state of Washington or any political subdivision thereof; or
(b) Any other university, college, school, or institute in the state of Washington offering instruction beyond the high school level that is a member institution of an accrediting association recognized by rule of the council for the purposes of this section and that agrees to and complies with program rules adopted pursuant to RCW
28B.92.150. However, any institution, branch, extension or facility operating within the state of Washington that is affiliated with an institution operating in another state must be:
(i) A separately accredited member institution of any such accrediting association;
(ii) A branch of a member institution of an accrediting association recognized by rule of the council for purposes of this section, that is eligible for federal student financial aid assistance and has operated as a nonprofit college or university delivering on-site classroom instruction for a minimum of twenty consecutive years within the state of Washington, and has an annual enrollment of at least seven hundred full-time equivalent students;
(iii) A nonprofit institution recognized by the state of Washington as provided in RCW
28B.77.240; or
(iv) An approved apprenticeship program under chapter
49.04 RCW.
(5) "Maximum Washington college grant":
(a) For students attending two or four-year institutions of higher education as defined in RCW
28B.10.016, is tuition and estimated fees for fifteen quarter credit hours or the equivalent, as determined by the office, including operating fees, building fees, and services and activities fees.
(b) For students attending private four-year not-for-profit institutions of higher education in Washington, in the 2019-20 academic year, is nine thousand seven hundred thirty-nine dollars and may increase each year afterwards by no more than the tuition growth factor.
(c) For students attending two-year private not-for-profit institutions of higher education in Washington, in the 2019-20 academic year, is three thousand six hundred ninety-four dollars and may increase each year afterwards by no more than the tuition growth factor.
(d) For students attending four-year private for-profit institutions of higher education in Washington, in the 2019-20 academic year, is eight thousand five hundred seventeen dollars and may increase each year afterwards by no more than the tuition growth factor.
(e) For students attending two-year private for-profit institutions of higher education in Washington, in the 2019-20 academic year, is two thousand eight hundred twenty-three dollars and may increase each year afterwards by no more than the tuition growth factor.
(f) For students attending Western Governors University-Washington, as established in RCW
28B.77.240, in the 2019-20 academic year, is five thousand six hundred nineteen dollars and may increase each year afterwards by no more than the tuition growth factor.
(g) For students attending approved apprenticeship programs, beginning in the 2022-23 academic year, is the same amount as the maximum Washington college grant for students attending two-year institutions of higher education as defined in (a) of this subsection to be used for tuition and fees, program supplies and equipment, and other costs that facilitate educational endeavors.
(6) "Office" means the office of student financial assistance.
(7) "Tuition growth factor" means an increase of no more than the average annual percentage growth rate of the median hourly wage for Washington for the previous fourteen years as the wage is determined by the federal bureau of labor statistics.
Findings—Intent—2013 c 248: "The legislature finds that Western Governors University-Washington, recognized by the state of Washington under RCW
28B.77.240, serves a student population that is nontraditional and geographically diverse. Enrollment in Western Governors University-Washington has grown steadily since 2011 reaching over four thousand three hundred students. These students represent an average age of thirty-seven, sixty-nine percent of whom are classified as underserved, including low-income, ethnic minority, rural, and first-generation students.
The legislature also finds that tuition at Western Governors University-Washington has remained static since 2008 at five thousand seven hundred eighty dollars per year.
Further, the legislature finds that the population served by Western Governors University-Washington deserves to have access to affordable postsecondary education, including baccalaureate degree-granting institutions. Therefore, the legislature intends to provide access to the state need grant program for eligible students attending Western Governors University-Washington.
The legislature also intends that Western Governors University-Washington comply with all reporting requirements established by the student achievement council for state need grant participation, including financial information about students, enrollment, graduation and placement rates, and the institution's standing with its accrediting agency, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, and the United States department of education." [
2013 c 248 s 1.]
Findings—Intent—2009 c 215: "The legislature finds that a myriad of financial aid programs exist for students at the federal, state, local, community, and institutional levels. These programs enable thousands of students across Washington to access all sectors of higher education, from apprenticeship programs to public and private four and two-year institutions of higher education. The legislature further finds that Washington state is a national leader in the distribution of financial aid to increase college access and affordability, ranking fourth in the nation in 2007 in terms of state student grant aid funding per capita.
It is the intent of the legislature to promote and expand access to state financial aid programs by determining which programs provide the greatest value to the largest number of students, and by fully supporting those programs. Furthermore, it is the intent of the legislature to designate all existing financial aid an opportunity pathway, with the effect of providing students with a clear understanding of available resources to pay for postsecondary education, thereby increasing access to postsecondary education and meeting the needs of local business and industry.
It is the intent of the legislature that the *higher education coordinating board, the state board for community and technical colleges, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the workforce training and education coordinating board, and institutions of higher education coordinate the development of outreach tools, such as a web-based portal for information on all opportunity pathway aid programs. The information should be communicated in a format and manner that provides an ease of understanding for students and their families and include other pertinent information on institutions of higher education, costs, and academic programs. It is also the intent of the legislature for institutions of higher education to incorporate this information in promotional materials to prospective and current students and their families." [
2009 c 215 s 1.]
