This bill amends existing law (RCW 28B.10.058 and RCW 28A.600.287) to require institutions of higher education to provide enrollment and registration at no cost for eligible "college in the high school" courses to high school students in grades 9–12, effective September 1, 2023. It modifies program governance and procedures by requiring local contracts between institutions and school districts, charter schools, state‑tribal compact schools, or private schools that include student enrollment qualifications; it requires institutions to keep these registrants' enrollment data separate and prohibits counting them in official enrollment reports used for higher education budgetary determinations. The amendment also requires high schools to award and document high school credit for successful completion, and requires institutions to award and transcript college credit, publish course equivalencies and credit policies, and allow full‑time, part‑time, and adjunct faculty to teach program courses. The bill creates a state funding mechanism and associated procedural rules rather than establishing a new criminal penalty. It directs the Legislature, beginning with the 2023–2025 omnibus operating appropriations act, to appropriate funds to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and each public four‑year institution for courses administered at public or private secondary schools. The appropriation calculation uses prior academic‑year course totals funded at $300 per student up to per‑course maximums ($6,000 for state universities, $5,000 for regional universities/state college, $3,500 for community or technical colleges), with annual CPI adjustments beginning fiscal year 2025 and course data submitted annually by October 15 to the Office of Financial Management and legislative fiscal staff. The superintendent of public instruction must adopt rules developed jointly with specified agencies and consulted with the Association of Washington School Principals, and institutions must submit annual disaggregated participation and outcome reports to the Legislature beginning September 1, 2024. The bill adds and clarifies definitions for terms such as "college in the high school," "course," "program course," "high school," and types of institutions, and identifies affected agencies and entities. The extracted text shows editing markers and does not include the full pre‑amendment language or the actual appropriations language in the omnibus act; an awkward phrase in the funding formula and the specific appropriation amounts in the omnibus act are not fully shown in the provided material.

If enacted, high school students in grades 9–12 will be able to enroll at no cost in college courses offered through local “college in the high school” partnerships, and institutions will receive state reimbursements based on prior-year course counts at $300 per student up to per-course caps that differ by institution type ($6,000 for state universities, $5,000 for regional universities/state college, $3,500 for community or technical colleges), with those caps indexed to CPI beginning in fiscal 2025. Colleges must keep these students’ enrollments separate from official headcount used for other budget decisions, publish course equivalencies and credit policies, enter local contracts with schools, accept responsibility for awarding college credit and transcripts, and submit annual, disaggregated reports to the Legislature; high schools must award and record high school credit, notify families that enrolling for college credit creates an official college transcript regardless of outcome, and provide program information to students in grades 8–12. The parties most affected are public higher education institutions (including public tribal colleges), which will gain a new funded obligation but face added administrative duties, separate enrollment tracking, and reporting requirements; school districts, charter and private schools, which must document credits and notify families; and students, who will have free access to college credit but also risk having an official college transcript started and having those credits accepted elsewhere only as electives. The bill ties initial funding to the 2023–2025 omnibus appropriations act and requires data submissions by October 15 for funding calculations, but the exact appropriation language and the awkwardly worded funding mechanism in one section leave some details about final dollar flows and calculations unclear.