This bill requires an identified state office to establish and administer a Washington dual enrollment scholarship program and expands the scholarship to be available to students enrolled in the Running Start program (RCW 28A.600.300). It specifies categories of scholarship awards — prorated mandatory fees, course or laboratory fees, a voucher for required course books/materials/supplies (amounts to be set in consultation with SBCTC and participating four‑year institutions), materials for professional‑technical or apprenticeship programs (including occupation‑specific tools and work clothes), and, if funds remain, a basic needs stipend for food and transportation — and makes awards subject to available appropriations and after existing low‑income fee waivers under RCW 28A.600.310 are applied. Participating institutions must report how any basic needs stipend was used and must accurately track costs and follow program rules and guidance. The bill amends existing statutes (including RCW 28B.76.730, RCW 43.131.427, and RCW 43.131.428), requires the office to adopt rules by January 1, 2026 under chapter 34.05 RCW that at minimum address grade point average, income eligibility, and allowed costs, and requires annual reporting by October 30 to the appropriate legislative committees summarizing scholarship amounts and purposes. It appropriates $750,000 for each of the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years to the office of student financial assistance for this scholarship, extends the pilot program termination date to July 1, 2032, and repeals a set of listed acts effective July 1, 2033. No new criminal offenses or penalties are created by the extracted text; the changes are programmatic, funding, procedural, and statutory amendment in nature (rulemaking, reporting, eligibility, award types, timelines, and appropriations). Important context is incomplete in the provided text: the statutory identity of "the office" is not explicitly defined here (though the appropriation is directed to the office of student financial assistance), one repeal citation is left incomplete, and the precise relationship between the office and the Washington Student Achievement Council (referenced in legislative intent) is not fully clarified in these excerpts.

If enacted, low-income students enrolled in the Running Start program would become eligible for a new dual enrollment scholarship that can pay prorated mandatory fees, course and lab fees, vouchers for required textbooks and supplies, program-specific materials (like tools or work clothes), and possibly a small basic needs stipend if money remains. The Legislature has put $750,000 into the program for each of the 2025–26 and 2026–27 fiscal years, so scholarships will be limited by those appropriations and will be applied after existing fee waivers for low-income students. Colleges and participating four‑year institutions will face new administrative duties: an office will run the program and must adopt rules by January 1, 2026, institutions must accurately track student costs, invoice the office, provide students access to the maximum awards, and report how any basic needs stipends were used; the office will set voucher and stipend amounts in consultation with the community college board and four‑year institutions. The text leaves unclear which agency is formally “the office” and the exact sizes of vouchers and stipends, so institutions and students will know the program exists and some funding is available but may not know award levels or whether the allocated dollars will meet demand.