[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6127479,"mediaKeyId","2663247-412ebd963c199aac0d309129a6735261","parentId",2663247,"title","Bill would let cities, counties create local 'promise' scholarships inside WSOS; hearing held","audioSeconds",1232,"startMs",1236000,"endMs",3974,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2663247-412ebd963c199aac0d309129a6735261&start=1236&end=3","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2663247-412ebd963c199aac0d309129a6735261/thumbnail_1236000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6127479/Washington/Bill-would-let-cities-counties-create-local-promise-scholarships-inside-WSOS-hearing-held","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6127479-c95fa910cf1647d10a34f3a7b1e0ae76/orig.mp4?Expires=1770512336&Signature=UryzxUx66hyETfYmAiCmgaFuH4is4oQWgReGF8HgrjrvAhxM8RBxwG~EdOSPK0~NJdmkGowAanKefHMOaeCL7h6UD5Bl08hSn-h2rv~DunF2znUidJxDoIKp1GKEGrDtQOs6lKlgMitEmZUdLtOPiRui2sqf-t49sK7OqbiY4f6p2LE3igXXdBBf5DDF~HsxP5j4OczVB7v9FBj4fcTjPX1iZZf7FYsSQYEQN34egPsmvkL124C8YQvKjV-P1145BXvvhd3218is3kujmOtJoTapeUVCgRhO6xWIhDW3t8VcwlkSkN9YOPDQVTV3B2SDZk7kjRLiQHP2BtdCFhCrsA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Washington Legislature","date","2025-03-17T00:00:00Z","article","Kelly Gunn, nonpartisan staff to the Senate committee, briefed lawmakers on Second Substitute House Bill 1587 during a public hearing and said the measure would allow local governments to establish local promise scholarship programs within the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship (WSOS) framework and receive a state match.

\"WSOS is a private nonprofit which administers a private‑public match program in which the state matches any private contribution to fund the scholarships,\" Gunn said. Under the bill as presented, the statewide match to WSOS is capped at $50,000,000 annually, and state matching funds for each local government partner's program would be limited to $250,000 per fiscal year.

Gunn said eligibility in the bill requires that students have received a Washington high school diploma or high school equivalency and be attending a public two‑year institution, a professional‑technical certificate or degree program as defined by the local government partner; local programs may not provide eligibility for more than three years. For a local program to be eligible for a state match in the 2025‑27 biennium, the local government must submit a pledge by Feb. 1, 2025, Gunn said. The bill also creates reporting requirements: the Education Research and Data Center must provide outcomes data on WSOS recipients and graduates, and WSOS must include certain information in its annual report.

Representative Steve Bergquist, the bill sponsor, framed the measure as a way to scale municipal pilot efforts such as the Renton Promise. Bergquist said the bill would reduce administrative fees charged against matched funds (from roughly 50% under some arrangements to 10% in the sponsor's framework), allowing more donor and match dollars to go directly to students. \"This would allow students to sign up later—into the fall quarter—so they have time to choose programs without committing months before graduation,\" Bergquist said, describing Renton's pilot and retention gains.

Ben Mitchell, director of policy and advocacy at Foundation for Tacoma Students, testified in support and said the bill could help local partners meet unmet student need without fully relying on municipal budgets. Jessica Monger, external affairs director for WSOS, said WSOS staff \"see real value and opportunity\" in the proposal and that WSOS would administer local government scholarships if the bill passes, but she added that WSOS is neutral on the bill because local programs would be able to set eligibility beyond WSOS's current focus on high‑demand fields and income limits.

One remote testifier, John Axtel, urged additional eligibility screening, asking that diploma/equivalency requirements be supplemented with placement cut scores to ensure students are prepared for college‑level work.

Kelly Gunn told the committee that a fiscal note is available and that staff are available for questions. Chair Nobles opened and closed the public hearing and set the bill aside to return to the work session; the committee did not take a committee vote at the hearing. Gunn also noted the bill passed the House 58‑38 earlier in the session.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development - 3/17/2025 ","oneSentenceSummary","Kelly Gunn, nonpartisan staff to the Senate committee, briefed lawmakers on Second Substitute House Bill 1587 during a public hearing and said the measure would allow local governments to establish local promise scholarship programs within the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship framework and receive a state match.","taxTitle","Higher Education & Workforce Development, Senate, Legislative Sessions, Washington","taxId",20504,"location","Washington","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6127484,"Senate committee hears that Washington 'fund split' shifts costs to students, straining campuses",2826,105000,2931000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2663247-412ebd963c199aac0d309129a6735261&start=105&end=2931","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2663247-412ebd963c199aac0d309129a6735261/thumbnail_105000.jpg","/articles/6127484/Washington/Senate-committee-hears-that-Washington-fund-split-shifts-costs-to-students-straining-campuses","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6127484-1127219006ba2165ad077c180cfc0b41/orig.mp4?Expires=1770512336&Signature=E3NR9SuHlIS6lCh5213xhtS0XuWA-LHj5qdDuGVBfnM~VmFw84LfTGErvz2IduajeA5i3lwTR2DfxPwOnc571Le54lOn~FQ6sq6T0wtoamRnYf6Q~RyHxx4qB6Q-yH6qZICDzEERf9VYZFLpGGZdZwPLeocgMU6hEIaV7HDFdXRdpa2sT6S2WfRkoVTLFyPMTIJMRhV69cr-7qszu0KEDXsvUOKINz1fwcLPLEKOyVgRIS-rkbKt-CiJkAElUgwEJeDBjuhmHxdseO71V10JMj0ikGBY8gPdsWOzy1T8CwG-fuNJ1w8VWajsS~FMixVqKqAPCG9qCW3UgNB3P-Kr5g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Melissa Beard, director of legislative affairs for the Council of Presidents, told the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee that a long‑standing budgeting practice known as the \"fund split\" has shifted recurring compensation and central‑services costs from the state to tuition, producing budget shortfalls and service cuts across Washington's public higher education sector.

Beard briefed the committee during a March 17 work session on how the fund split emerged after the Great Recession and how it affects each public institution differently. \"Historically, the state assumed 100% of operating and central services costs for institutions and tuition was used to meet emerging academic and support needs of students,\" Beard said. \"This fund split practice is not in law or written down, it is a budgeting practice.\"

The fund split divides the cost of compensation and central services between state appropriations and tuition revenue. Beard said the split varies across the sector—from roughly 60% state funding at the University of Washington to about 85% state funding for some smaller institutions. She told senators that lower enrollment, a statutory tuition cap enacted in February 2015 and rising inflation have combined to reduce tuition revenue available to fill those gaps.

Beard described how the policy has translated into concrete impacts at individual campuses. She said Central has reduced staff by about 14% since 2019, a reduction that she tied to lost course offerings and services. Eastern, she said, faces an ongoing $12 million deficit and recently identified 55 programs for consolidation or elimination as part of a plan intended to save about 12% of its base budget over three to five years. Evergreen still carries a roughly $4.4 million structural deficit, Beard said. \"When institutions have to cut their base budgets, they reduce flexibility to serve emerging student needs,\" she said.

Beard also described a set of impacts at research universities. She said the University of Washington's fund split is about 60% state funding and 40% tuition revenue and that, \"per‑student state funding at the U is now substantially lower than in earlier decades,\" attributing the analysis to LEAP. She said UW has a hiring pause and has felt pressure on its ability to provide cost‑of‑living adjustments in a high‑cost region. At Washington State University, Beard said tuition revenues have fallen short of state projections for five straight years and that WSU has cut about $34.7 million over the last three years to balance operations; she also said the share of tenure‑track faculty across the sector has declined over the past decade.

Choi Holliday, deputy executive director for business operations at the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, provided sector context for the community and technical colleges. \"We serve around 290,000 students last year,\" Holliday said, and noted the sector’s in‑state tuition for a full‑time student was about $4,700 for the year she described. Holliday explained how the board allocates the system appropriation to colleges and emphasized that the colleges also rely on grants, contracts and enterprise operations. She highlighted a mismatch between large cost drivers—for example, collective bargaining increases covered by Initiative 732 formulas—and modest tuition increases constrained by the statutory cap.

Committee members asked presenters for further data. Senator Slatter praised the clarity of the presentation and asked about transparency in campus budgeting; a follow‑up question requested a breakout showing how federal research dollars interact with state funding. Chair Lisa Nobles (referred to in the transcript as Chair Nobles) said the fund split and preservation of the Washington College Grant are priorities for the committee and noted pending legislation to revisit tuition policy.

No committee vote was taken at the work session. Presenters and staff agreed to provide additional data to senators on enrollment trends, federal funding breakout and the allocation model used by the community and technical college system.","Presenters told the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee that a budgeting practice known as the fund split—created after the Great Recession—now leaves public institutions reliant on tuition amid falling enrollment and a statutory tuition cap, producing deficits, staff cuts and reduced student services across the sector.","actionData","errors"]

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Bill would let cities, counties create local 'promise' scholarships inside WSOS; hearing held

Senate committee hears that Washington 'fund split' shifts costs to students, straining campuses