BILL REQ. #:  H-3484.1 

Read first time 01/23/14.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to higher education degree production incentives; and adding a new section to chapter 28B.77 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28B.77 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The degree production incentive account is created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account shall be spent only after appropriation. All receipts from appropriations directed to the account must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for degree production incentive purposes as identified in subsection (2) of this section and distributed based on a formula in subsection (3) of this section.
     (2) Expenditures from the degree production incentive account shall be for the purpose of providing incentives to the state universities, the regional universities, and The Evergreen State College to meet degree production goals to increase:
     (a) Undergraduate degrees awarded;
     (b) Undergraduate degrees awarded in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and high employer demand fields;
     (c) Degrees awarded to low-income students; and
     (d) The proportion of in-state students accepted compared to out-of-state students.
     (3)(a) Degree production incentive moneys must be disbursed to each of the state universities, the regional universities, and The Evergreen State College according to the number of points earned. The method for earning points shall be based on the formula in this subsection (3).
     (i) One point will be earned for each undergraduate degree awarded;
     (ii) One point will be earned for each undergraduate degree awarded in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and high employer demand fields; and
     (iii) One point will be earned for each degree awarded to a low-income student based on the student's eligibility for a federal Pell grant.
     (b) The total number of institutional points shall equal the sum of points earned in (a)(i) through (iii) of this subsection multiplied by the acceptance rate of in-state students.
     (4) The data used to determine points earned for degree production incentive purposes shall be the same as used for the higher education data dashboard collected under RCW 28B.77.090 by the education data center in the office of financial management.