The bill would add a new section to chapter 28B.10 RCW creating a statutory enrollment requirement that fall freshman head count enrollment at each state university, regional university, the state college, and separately at each of their university campuses must annually be at least 75 percent Washington resident students. The measure defines "academically qualified" as meeting an institution's published minimum admissions standards and refers to RCW 28B.15.012 for the definition of "resident student" and chapter 28B.45 RCW for the list of university campuses. The bill also contains legislative findings expressing the intent that public higher education institutions prioritize Washington resident students. This is a new statutory procedural requirement governing admissions/enrollment composition rather than a criminal or penalty provision. It allows an exception: if insufficient academically qualified resident undergraduate applicants apply, an institution may enroll additional nonresident applicants even if that causes the resident share to fall below 75 percent. The bill text provided does not specify an effective date, a precise list of named institutions beyond the general categories, how "fall freshman head count" is counted, or any enforcement, reporting, or penalty mechanisms; those details are uncertain from the extracted facts. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Higher Education & Workforce Development.

If enacted, each state university, regional university, the state college, and each of their campuses would have to make sure at least 75 percent of their fall freshman head count are Washington residents each year. In practice admissions offices would shift priorities toward admitting resident applicants who meet their published minimum admissions standards (the bill’s definition of “academically qualified”) and would only take extra nonresident freshmen when there are not enough academically qualified resident applicants. The people most affected are admissions staff and prospective students: resident applicants would likely see better admission chances, nonresident applicants would likely see fewer available freshmen slots except under the exception, and campuses will need to manage admissions separately from their parent institutions. Important implementation details are missing from the provided text—there’s no clear effective date, no definition of how head count is calculated, and no description of reporting, enforcement, or penalties—so how quickly and precisely institutions must change procedures is unclear.