5139-S AMH HE H5228.1

SSB 5139 - H COMM AMD

By Committee on Higher Education

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that little progress has been made in reducing the proportion of recent high school graduates who must enroll in remedial or precollege classes at Washington's public colleges and universities before they proceed with college-level courses. The legislature also finds that more than seventeen million dollars in state and tuition resources is being spent each year to provide these students with the basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics they should have gained before graduating from high school. It is the intent of the legislature that state education agencies place a higher priority on their work to address the issue of remediation to make measurable progress by the end of 2004.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) Within current budgets, the higher education coordinating board, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, and the state board for community and technical colleges shall:

(a) Adopt standards and expectations for the knowledge and skills high school graduates need to ensure they are ready for college-level work, which may be based on existing standards developed in Washington, in other states, or by national organizations; and

(b) Develop strategies for implementing and communicating the standards in all Washington high schools.

(2) To accomplish the tasks under this section, the boards and the office shall convene a college preparation work group that includes representatives of two and four-year institutions of higher education and school districts. By January 1, 2005, the work group must submit a progress report to the education and higher education committees of the senate and the house of representatives.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:

Except for the reports required by RCW 28B.10.685, institutions of higher education shall not include in official enrollment reports any student who graduated from a Washington high school within the previous three years and is enrolled in a precollege course as defined by RCW 28B.10.682, nor shall such a student be considered in any enrollment statistics that would affect budgetary determinations. The restriction under this section applies only to the proportion of such a student's total enrollment that is in precollege courses.

Sec. 4. RCW 28B.10.685 and 1995 c 310 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

Beginning in 1997, by September 30th of each year, each state university, regional university, state college, and, for community colleges and technical colleges, the state board for community and technical colleges shall provide a report to the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education, and the commission on student learning under RCW ((28A.630.885)) 28A.655.060. The report shall contain the following information on students who, within three years of graduating from a Washington high school, enrolled the prior year in a ((state-supported)) precollege level class at the institution: (1) The number of such students enrolled in a precollege level class in mathematics, reading, grammar, spelling, writing, or English; (2) the types of precollege classes in which each student was enrolled; and (3) the name of the Washington high school from which each student graduated.

For students who enrolled in a precollege class within three years of graduating from a Washington high school, each institution of higher education shall also report to the Washington high school from which the student graduated. The annual report shall include information on the number of students from that high school enrolled in precollege classes, and the types of classes taken by the students.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 28B.15 RCW to read as follows:

Institutions of higher education shall not provide state-supported tuition waivers to any student who graduated from a Washington high school within the previous three years and is enrolled in a precollege course as defined by RCW 28B.10.682. The restriction under this section applies only to the proportion of such a student's total enrollment that is in precollege courses.

Sec. 6. RCW 28B.119.010 and 2003 c 233 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

The higher education coordinating board shall design the Washington promise scholarship program based on the following parameters:

(1) Scholarships shall be awarded to students graduating from public and approved private high schools under chapter 28A.195 RCW, students participating in home-based instruction as provided in chapter 28A.200 RCW, and persons twenty-one years of age or younger receiving a GED certificate, who meet both an academic and a financial eligibility criteria.

(a) Academic eligibility criteria shall be defined as follows:

(i) Beginning with the graduating class of 2002, students graduating from public and approved private high schools under chapter 28A.195 RCW must be in the top fifteen percent of their graduating class, as identified by each respective high school at the completion of the first term of the student's senior year; or

(ii) Students graduating from public high schools, approved private high schools under chapter 28A.195 RCW, students participating in home-based instruction as provided in chapter 28A.200 RCW, and persons twenty-one years of age or younger receiving a GED certificate, must equal or exceed a cumulative scholastic assessment test I score of twelve hundred on their first attempt or must equal or exceed a composite American college test score of twenty-seven on their first attempt.

(b) To meet the financial eligibility criteria, a student's family income shall not exceed one hundred thirty-five percent of the state median family income adjusted for family size, as determined by the higher education coordinating board for each graduating class. Students not meeting the eligibility requirements for the first year of scholarship benefits may reapply for the second year of benefits, but must still meet the income standard set by the board for the student's graduating class.

(2) Promise scholarships are not intended to supplant any grant, scholarship, or tax program related to postsecondary education. If the board finds that promise scholarships supplant or reduce any grant, scholarship, or tax program for categories of students, then the board shall adjust the financial eligibility criteria or the amount of scholarship to the level necessary to avoid supplanting.

(3) Within available funds, each qualifying student shall receive two consecutive annual awards, the value of each not to exceed the full-time annual resident tuition rates charged by Washington's community colleges. The higher education coordinating board shall award scholarships to as many students as possible from among those qualifying under this section.

(4) By October 15th of each year, the board shall determine the award amount of the scholarships, after taking into consideration the availability of funds.

(5) The scholarships may only be used for undergraduate coursework at accredited institutions of higher education in the state of Washington.

(6) The scholarships may be used for undergraduate coursework at Oregon institutions of higher education that are part of the border county higher education opportunity project in RCW 28B.80.806 when those institutions offer programs not available at accredited institutions of higher education in Washington state.

(7) The scholarships may be used for college-related expenses, including but not limited to, tuition, room and board, books, and materials, except that a recipient who graduated from a Washington high school within the previous three years may not apply the scholarship toward the cost of tuition at a public institution of higher education for enrollment in precollege courses, as defined by RCW 28B.10.682. The restriction under this subsection applies only to the proportion of a recipient's total enrollment that is in precollege courses.

(8) The scholarships may not be awarded to any student who is pursuing a degree in theology.

(9) The higher education coordinating board may establish satisfactory progress standards for the continued receipt of the promise scholarship.

(10) The higher education coordinating board shall establish the time frame within which the student must use the scholarship.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 3 through 6 of this act take effect September 1, 2009."

Correct the title.

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