The bill creates a new state law (a new chapter in Title 28B RCW) establishing a "pay it forward program" to provide tuition and fee assistance to students enrolled in graduate degree programs at Washington's public research universities, regional universities, and The Evergreen State College. The Student Achievement Council administers the program, providing funds for tuition and fees (reduced by state financial aid), requiring participants to sign a binding contract to make income-based contributions beginning one year after graduation or discontinuation, and depositing those contributions into a newly created pay it forward trust fund held by the state treasurer. The legal changes are procedural and fiscal: it establishes a new program and a dedicated trust fund, sets contribution caps and time limits, and authorizes who may expend fund moneys. Contribution limits are set at up to 5% of income for attendees of state universities and up to 3.5% of income for attendees of regional universities or the state college; contributions must be proportional to credits taken while participating and may not be required for more than 15 years. Tuition assistance under the program is limited to up to four years (or the credit/clock-hour equivalent) or up to 125% of the published length of the participant’s program. The trust fund is placed in the custody of the state treasurer, moneys do not lapse at fiscal close, and disbursements are exempt from appropriations and the allotment provisions of chapter 43.88 RCW; only the Student Achievement Council’s executive director or a designee may authorize expenditures. The bill names the affected institutions and agencies and sets participant timing requirements, but it does not define key procedural details in this text: the content of the required "binding contract," the council’s program rules and policies, how "income" is calculated, enrollment and eligibility verification procedures, collection or enforcement mechanisms, hardship exemptions, treatment of interest or penalties, interactions with federal aid, or specific effective dates.

If enacted, the bill would let graduate students at Washington’s public universities and The Evergreen State College get tuition and fee payments up front from a new state “pay it forward” program in exchange for signing a contract to repay a fixed percentage of their income starting one year after they graduate or leave their program. Repayment rates would be capped at 5% of income for graduates of the two state universities and 3.5% for those from regional universities or the state college, payments could not be required for more than 15 years, and tuition help would be limited to roughly four years (or up to 125% of the published program length). Payments from participants would go into a dedicated trust account held by the state treasurer that does not lapse and can only be spent when authorized by the student achievement council’s executive director, which gives the council a continuous funding pool and new administrative duties outside the regular appropriation process. The groups most affected are graduate students (who gain a new financing option but also must enter a binding repayment contract), the Student Achievement Council (which must run the program and control expenditures), and the state treasurer (custodian of the fund); listed public institutions are included as eligible schools. Important operational details are missing from the text provided—such as how “income” is defined and verified, exact contract terms, collection or enforcement procedures, hardship or exemption rules, and how the program interacts with federal aid—so significant uncertainty remains about how burdens, costs, and risks would work in practice.