The office of student financial assistance shall:

(1) With the assistance of the office of the superintendent of public instruction, implement and administer the Washington college bound scholarship program;

(2) Develop and distribute, to all schools with students enrolled in grade seven or eight, a pledge form that can be completed and returned electronically or by mail by the student or the school to the office of student financial assistance;

(3) Develop and implement a student application, selection, and notification process for scholarships, which includes working with other state agencies, law enforcement, or the court system to verify that eligible students do not have felony convictions;

(4) Annually in March, with the assistance of the office of the superintendent of public instruction, distribute to tenth grade college bound scholarship students and their families: (a) Notification that, to qualify for the scholarship, a student's family income may not exceed sixty-five percent of the state median family income at graduation from high school; (b) the current year's value for sixty-five percent of the state median family income; and (c) a statement that a student should consult their school counselor if their family makes, or is projected to make, more than this value before the student graduates;

(5) Develop comprehensive social media outreach with grade-level specific information designed to keep students on track to graduate and leverage current tools such as the high school and beyond plan required by the state board of education and the ready set grad web site maintained by the student achievement council;

(6) Track scholarship recipients to ensure continued eligibility and determine student compliance for awarding of scholarships;

(7) Within existing resources, collaborate with college access providers and K-12, postsecondary, and youth-serving organizations to map and coordinate mentoring and advising resources across the state;

(8) Subject to appropriation, deposit funds into the state educational trust fund;

(9) Purchase tuition units under the advanced college tuition payment program in chapter 28B.95 RCW to be owned and held in trust by the *board, for the purpose of scholarship awards as provided for in this section; and

(10) Distribute scholarship funds, in the form of tuition units purchased under the advanced college tuition payment program in chapter 28B.95 RCW or through direct payments from the state educational trust fund, to institutions of higher education on behalf of scholarship recipients identified by the office, as long as recipients maintain satisfactory academic progress.

[2015 c 244 § 4; 2011 1st sp.s. c 11 § 228; 2007 c 405 § 5.]

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