This bill reenacts and amends RCW 28B.92.200 and amends several existing statutes governing the Washington college grant and the Washington college bound scholarship, and it adds a new reporting section to chapter 28B.77 RCW. It creates the Washington college grant program as a statewide free college program administered by the office of student financial assistance, requires legislative appropriation for the program, and directs the office to implement rules and award grants beginning in academic year 2020-21. The bill also amends the college bound scholarship program for automatic enrollment, defines award calculations for public, private, and vocational institutions, clarifies property and legal ownership of scholarship tuition units, establishes enrollment and time limits (including four full-time years of award within five years after high school graduation and a five-year or 125 percent program-length limit for eligibility), and specifies refund and prorating procedures and renewal rules tied to satisfactory academic progress and small family income changes. The act adds a “passport to careers” set of programs in amended RCW 28B.117.030, to be designed and implemented by the office subject to available funds. Passport to careers has two pathways—passport to college promise and passport to apprenticeship opportunities—offering supplemental scholarships and assistance for students with foster care histories or verified unaccompanied homeless youth or young adult status. The bill sets eligibility criteria (including foster care age cutoffs by specific dates, residency or office verification, minimum enrollment levels by age 21, limits on degree status and fields, and verification procedures for unaccompanied homelessness), caps awards (college promise capped at resident undergraduate tuition and fees at the state’s highest-priced public institution; combined passport awards limited to the six-year equivalent at that institution), requires an advisory committee and institutional supports, allows contracting with nongovernmental entities for implementation, and protects personally identifiable information shared under the program. The act also adds an annual reporting requirement by a council to the legislature on this act and related statutes, and it sets applicability dates for sections 1–4 beginning with academic year 2026-27. Funding remains subject to legislative appropriation. The provided text is incomplete in places: Sections 1 and 2 are not included in the extracted material, several lines begin or end mid-sentence (for example, the full reversion rule language for unused scholarship tuition units and the identity of “the council” referenced in the new reporting section are not shown), and some statutory cross-references are listed without their full amended text.

If enacted, the act would expand state-funded help so many low-income Washington residents and specific groups (students receiving basic food benefits, foster care alumni, and unaccompanied homeless youth) face much lower college or apprenticeship costs and could get automatic enrollment, book stipends, or tuition coverage up to set caps and time limits. Practically, the Office of Student Financial Assistance, colleges, and contracted nongovernmental partners would see increased administrative work to verify eligibility, award and renew grants, return unused funds, convene advisory groups, and meet new reporting duties, while the Legislature must provide the actual money, so the state budget and institutional workloads would increase. The people most affected are eligible students who stand to gain reduced out‑of‑pocket costs and clearer time limits on benefits, and the Office and institutions that must implement rules, perform verifications, and coordinate support; because many provisions depend on legislative appropriations and some implementation details and text are not included in the available extracts, the final size of awards, exact funding levels, and some operational rules remain uncertain.