This bill creates a new Washington 13 free guarantee as a new chapter in Title 28B RCW and amends RCW 28A.230.310, RCW 28B.50.940, and RCW 28A.230.212. Beginning in the 2027–28 academic year it authorizes up to 45 credits of tuition-free technical college for eligible students, with the office of student financial assistance implementing and administering the program. The award is defined as the difference between tuition and services and activities fees and any state-funded gift aid the student receives, and recipients must meet residency, recent Washington high school graduation or equivalency, no prior associate degree, at least part-time enrollment in an eligible technical college program, completion of the FAFSA or Washington application for state aid, and satisfactory academic progress as determined by the office. The bill also imposes procedural and K–12 changes: each technical college must designate a staff member to coordinate student supports for recipients while they receive the benefit; the office and the state board for community and technical colleges may adopt rules to implement the program; school districts must provide annual financial aid advising information and specific notifications to families of 12th graders and are encouraged to facilitate one-on-one counselor meetings for eligible low-income seniors. It revises high school and beyond plan requirements to prefer student-led conferences, require annual updates (with specified grade-level milestones such as a career inventory by grade 7, plan initiation by grade 8, math-course review in grade 9, and a grade 10 review), require language-accessible materials and IEP alignment, and require inclusion of financial aid information beginning in grade 9 and a resume by the end of grade 12. The College Board pilot for FAFSA and state aid outreach and its annual reporting to the Legislature are also included in the act. Legally, the change is the creation of a new financial-aid program and related procedural requirements for K–12 and technical colleges, with administrative rulemaking authority granted to state agencies; it is not a criminal or penalty change. Important details are not provided in the extracted text, including the full text of section 2 and portions of amended sections, the formal definition of “satisfactory academic progress,” specifics of the wraparound services, funding or appropriation mechanisms, and any enforcement or appeals procedures. Some referenced dates and pilot selection criteria precede the effective dates in the act and that timing is not explained in the provided extracts.

If enacted, recent Washington public high school graduates or those who earn an equivalent diploma in the same or immediately prior year could get up to 45 credits of tuition-free technical college beginning in 2027-28, with the award covering the gap between tuition/fees and any state or federal gift aid the student receives. Eligible students must be residents, not already hold an associate degree, enroll at least part time in an approved technical program, complete the FAFSA or Washington aid application, and maintain academic progress; this likely lowers out-of-pocket tuition costs for many eligible students but depends on completing financial aid applications and qualifying for other gift aid first. The office of student financial assistance will take on new administrative duties and rulemaking, technical colleges must assign staff to provide and coordinate wraparound student support while benefits last, and school districts must continue and expand financial aid advising and plan updates in students’ high school and beyond plans; these new responsibilities may raise staffing and coordination costs for colleges and districts. The bill does not specify how the guarantee is funded, what “satisfactory academic progress” means in practice, or exact details of the wraparound services, so the scale of state spending and operational impacts are uncertain.