SB 5705 — Concerning the Washington opportunity scholarship program.

S-1292.1SUBSTITUTES-1086.1SENATE SENATE BILL 5705State of Washington66th Legislature2019 Regular SessionBySenateSessionBySenators HigherPalumbo, EducationConway, &Kuderer, Workforceand DevelopmentVan (originallyDe sponsoredWegeRead byfirst Senatorstime Palumbo,01/29/19.Referred Conway,to Kuderer,Committee andon VanHigher DeEducation Wege)READ& FIRSTWorkforce TIMEDevelopment.AN 02/18/19.AN ACT Relating to the Washington opportunity scholarship program;

Assets in the scholarship account, the student support pathways account, the advanced degrees pathways account, and the endowment account are not considered state money, common cash, or revenue to the state;(c) Provide proof of receipt of grants and contributions from private sources to the council, identifying the amounts received by name of private source and date, and whether the amounts received were deposited into the scholarship account, the student support pathways account, the advanced degrees pathways account, or the endowment account((s));(d) In consultation with the council and the state board for community and technical colleges, make an assessment of the reasonable annual eligible expenses associated with eligible education programs and eligible advanced degree programs identified by the board;(e) Determine the dollar difference between tuition fees charged by institutions of higher education in the 2008-09 academic year and the academic year for which an opportunity scholarship is being distributed;(f) Develop and implement an application, selection, and notification process for awarding opportunity scholarships;(g) Ensure that if the private source is from a municipality or county, an amount at least equal to the value of the private source plus the state match is awarded to participants within that municipality or county according to the municipality's or county's program rules;(h) Determine the annual amount of the opportunity scholarship for each selected participant.

The annual amount shall be at least one thousand dollars or the amount determined under (e) of this subsection, but may be increased on an income-based, sliding scale basis up to the amount necessary to cover all reasonable annual eligible expenses as assessed pursuant to (d) of this subsection, or to encourage participation in professional-technical certificate programs, professional-technical degree programs, ((or)) baccalaureate degree programs, or eligible advanced degree programs identified by the board;(((h)))(i)board;(h) Distribute scholarship funds to selected participants.

and until the participant withdraws from or is no longer attending the program, completes the program, or has taken the credit or clock hour equivalent of one hundred twenty-five percent of the published length of time of the participant's program, whichever occurs first;(((i)))(j)first;(i) Notify institutions of scholarship recipients who will attend their institutions and inform them of the terms of the students' eligibility;(((j)))(k)eligibility;(j) Establish a required service obligation for participants enrolled in an eligible advanced degree program, and establish a process for verifying a participant's employment in a service obligation area;

and(((k)))(l)and(k) Establish a repayment obligation and appeals process for participants who serve less than the required service obligation, unless the program administrator determines the circumstances are beyond the participant's control.