The bill to implement an automatic opt-in for the College Bound Scholarship (CBS) was voted on in the Senate Committee on Higher Education & Workforce Development last week and is moving forward to Senate Ways & Means. Budget writers are meeting this week to assess how many bills can be funded ahead of next week’s fiscal cut-off.
SB-5321 is scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM today, Feb. 17. We need your support to keep the pressure on legislators to help the students of Washington access the CBS. Explore our white papers to learn more about the impact of this bill on our community.
Send a Letter
Send a letter to Pierce County delegation urging them to support SB-5321. Letters may be sent up until this Friday, Feb. 19.
CBS sign up rates for the eighth-grade class 2020-21 were almost 10% below those of 2019-2020, even with dedicated teams focusing on promoting sign-ups at each middle school. Eliminating sign-up barriers for qualifying students will put our brightest students of low-income backgrounds on a path to complete high school and enter a college of their choice.
An automatic opt-in will free up counselors and community members to focus their attention on designing and implementing robust college outreach and engagement strategies that support young people to discover the value of their education and career path.
Given the dramatic shift that COVID-19 forced on our public education landscape, careful consideration and reevaluation of existing policies around the College Bound Scholarship must be given.
With all students opted into this opportunity, we are relieving an unnecessary burden for many of our school staff, students, and families. SB-5321 has the potential to support communities across the state to increase their college-going culture and college enrollment rates.
