Several Democratic legislators from Seattle have introduced a program that would make free tuition widely available at all public two-year colleges in Washington, including community and technical colleges. The “Washington Promise” program would guarantee community or technical college for those who may be slightly above the threshold for financial aid but still can’t afford tuition, according to the Seattle Times.
Eligible students couldn’t have already obtained a bachelor’s degree, and would need to maintain a 2.0 GPA. The lawmakers hope the program will result in a 5 to 9 percent increase in enrollment in two-year colleges. About 53,000 of the current 181,000 statewide would be covered
Nonpartisan legislative staff estimate that the program would cost around $100 million. It’s not clear at this point where the funding would come from.
Oregon made similar efforts last year, passing a law in July 2015 that guarantees community college in the state would cost a maximum of $50 per term.
