Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Higher Education Committee

HB 1825

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Background:

In order to qualify as a resident student, a student who separated from the military needs to have left the military under honorable conditions after serving for two years, needs to have entered an institution of higher education within one year of separation, and needs to have:

designated Washington as their intended place of residence at the time of separation;
made Washington their official home of record; or
moved to Washington and established a domicile.

The spouse or dependent of a person who separated from the military under honorable conditions after at least two years of service who designates Washington as their intended place of residence and their primary domicile, qualifies as a resident student if they enter an institution of higher education in Washington within one year of their partner's separation from the military.

Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014.

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act (Act) was enacted in 2014 with four overarching goals: (1) improve access to and quality of care for veterans; (2) expand the Department of Veteran's Affairs internal capacity to provide timely care to veterans; (3) provide real accountability for incompetent or corrupt senior managers; and (4) improve education benefits for veterans and dependents.

Part of improving education benefits for veterans and dependents was requiring public institutions of higher education to provide in-state tuition to veterans and eligible dependents in order for the institution to remain eligible to receive payments from the All-Volunteer Force Education Assistance Program (Montgomery GI-Bill) and Post-9/11 Educational Assistance (Post-9/11 GI Bill). The Act defines an individual eligible to receive in-state tuition as:

a veteran who was discharged or released from a period of not fewer than 90 days of service in the active military, naval, or air service less than three years before the date of enrollment in the course concerned; or
an individual who is entitled to Veteran's education assistance benefits due to the individual's relationship to a veteran described in bullet one.

Summary of Bill:

A student qualifies as a resident student if they meet one of the following three conditions:

if the student separated from the military with any period of honorable service after at least 90 days of active duty service, and the student enters an institution of higher education in Washington within three years of their date of separation;
the student is the spouse or child of an individual who has separated from the military with any period of honorable service after at least 90 days of active duty service, and the student enters an institution of higher education in Washington within three years of the date of separation; or
the student is the spouse or a child of a deceased individual who completed at least 90 days of active duty service and died in the line of duty, and the student enters an institution of higher education in Washington within three years of the individual's death.

Active duty service means full-time duty, other than active duty for training, as a member of the uniformed service of the United States. Active duty service as a National Guard member for the purpose of organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, or training and active service for the purpose of responding to a national emergency is recognized as active duty service.