COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Representative Don Carlson, Chair

BILL ANALYSIS

HB 1574

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Creating the historically Black college fund pilot project.

BACKGROUND: Under current law, students receiving state need grants must attend institutions of higher education located in the state of Washington. The Higher Education Coordinating Board has made some limited exceptions to this requirement for reciprocity students attending colleges in Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.

According to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, dated November 24, 1995, 11 states permit their students to take their state financial aid money with them when they attend college in another state. This practice is known as portability. The article goes on to report the following:

(1) That a number of influential educators and lawmakers believe that expanding portable aid might help states with high enrollment pressures to avoid some of the costs associated with building new campuses.

(2) That the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) is studying ways in which its members might make their student aid portable in the West.

(3) That some states that are projecting enrollment declines are positioning themselves to accept portable-aid students. One such state is North Dakota.

(4) That some officials in some public colleges oppose portability.

SUMMARY: The Historically Black College Fund pilot project is created. Through the project, needy Washington residents may take their state need grants and work study awards to any of five institutions of higher education. The institutions include Morehouse College, Clark-Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morris-Brown College, or Tuskegee University.

The Higher Education Coordinating Board will administer the pilot project. The board will establish criteria for student and institutional participation in the project. By December 15, 2000, the board will report to the Governor and appropriate legislative committees on the results of the pilot project. The report will include a recommendation on the extent that financial aid portability should be permitted for Washington's college students.