28B.117.030 - Program design and implementation -- Student eligibility -- Scholarships.

Program design and implementation — Student eligibility — Scholarships. (Expires June 30, 2013.)

(1) The higher education coordinating board shall design and, to the extent funds are appropriated for this purpose, implement, a program of supplemental scholarship and student assistance for students who have emancipated from the state foster care system after having spent at least one year in care.

     (2) The board shall convene and consult with an advisory committee to assist with program design and implementation. The committee shall include but not be limited to former foster care youth and their advocates; representatives from the state board for community and technical colleges, and from public and private agencies that assist current and former foster care recipients in their transition to adulthood; and student support specialists from public and private colleges and universities.

     (3) To the extent that sufficient funds have been appropriated for this purpose, a student is eligible for assistance under this section if he or she:

     (a) Emancipated from foster care on or after January 1, 2007, after having spent at least one year in foster care subsequent to his or her sixteenth birthday;

     (b) Is a resident student, as defined in RCW 28B.15.012(2);

     (c) Is enrolled with or will enroll on at least a half-time basis with an institution of higher education in Washington state by the age of twenty-one;

     (d) Is making satisfactory academic progress toward the completion of a degree or certificate program, if receiving supplemental scholarship assistance;

     (e) Has not earned a bachelor's or professional degree; and

     (f) Is not pursuing a degree in theology.

     (4) A passport to college scholarship under this section:

     (a) Shall not exceed resident undergraduate tuition and fees at the highest-priced public institution of higher education in the state; and

     (b) Shall not exceed the student's financial need, less a reasonable self-help amount defined by the board, when combined with all other public and private grant, scholarship, and waiver assistance the student receives.

     (5) An eligible student may receive a passport to college scholarship under this section for a maximum of five years after the student first enrolls with an institution of higher education or until the student turns age twenty-six, whichever occurs first. If a student turns age twenty-six during an academic year, and would otherwise be eligible for a scholarship under this section, the student shall continue to be eligible for a scholarship for the remainder of the academic year.

     (6) The higher education coordinating board, in consultation with and with assistance from the state board for community and technical colleges, shall perform an annual analysis to verify that those institutions of higher education at which students have received a scholarship under this section have awarded the student all available need-based and merit-based grant and scholarship aid for which the student qualifies.

     (7) In designing and implementing the passport to college student support program under this section, the board, in consultation with and with assistance from the state board for community and technical colleges, shall ensure that a participating college or university:

     (a) Has a viable plan for identifying students eligible for assistance under this section, for tracking and enhancing their academic progress, for addressing their unique needs for assistance during school vacations and academic interims, and for linking them to appropriate sources of assistance in their transition to adulthood;

     (b) Receives financial and other incentives for achieving measurable progress in the recruitment, retention, and graduation of eligible students.

[2007 c 314 § 4.]