This bill amends existing law (RCW 28B.92.205) to change income eligibility ranges and award percentages for the Washington college grant and adds a new section to chapter 28B.92 RCW creating a new supplementary stipend called a "bridge grant." Under the amended award scale, students with family incomes between 0% and 70% of the state median family income (adjusted for family size) receive the maximum Washington college grant; those between 71% and 80% receive 50% of the maximum; 81% to 90% receive 25%; and 91% to 100% receive 10% of the maximum. The bill establishes a $500 annual bridge grant payable beginning in the 2025-26 academic year for eligible Washington college grant recipients (excluding College Bound Scholarship recipients). The bridge grant is defined as an additional stipend to help low-income students with non-tuition educational expenses (for example, books, supplies, transportation, housing, and child care). Bridge grants are applied after all other gift aid and require at least half-time enrollment for the full $500; less-than-half-time enrollment is prorated. This is a statutory change that both modifies an existing financial aid formula and creates a new grant program and related award procedure. The text refers to "the office" as the awarding authority but does not identify which office or set out other eligibility requirements from elsewhere in the chapter. The source or method for calculating "state median family income, adjusted for family size" is not provided in the extracted facts, and some bracketed historical text appears truncated.

Lowand middle-income college students in Washington would see more clearly tiered Washington college grant awards based on family income: households at or below 70% of the state median family income would get the full grant, those at 71–80% would get half, 81–90% a quarter, and 91–100% one‑tenth. In addition, eligible Washington college grant recipients (but not College Bound Scholarship recipients) would get a new $500 annual "bridge grant" beginning in the 2025–26 school year to help pay for books, supplies, housing, transportation, child care and similar costs; full payment requires at least half‑time enrollment and the amount is prorated for lower enrollment, and the bridge grant is awarded after other gift aid so it supplements remaining need. The most affected people are low-income students who are Washington college grant recipients, who will likely see modestly increased cash available for non-tuition costs and more predictable partial awards for those just above the lowest income band. Colleges or the state office that must distribute the money will need to budget for the added $500 stipends and adjust award processing to apply bridge grants after other gift aid; the bill text does not identify which office will administer the bridge grant, nor does it define how the state median family income is determined or spell out other eligibility details, so some implementation and cost calculations remain uncertain.