The state’s K-12 coordinating entity, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), and public institutions of higher education would be required to enter into data sharing agreements to help inform Washington high school students about postsecondary educational opportunities, according to a bill passed by the Senate with a vote of 40-8 late Friday.
Senate Bill 5593 requires school districts to work with OSPI to provide information from their high school directories, such as a student’s name, email and mailing addresses, and provide that information through data sharing agreements with the state’s public institutions of higher education by November each year. It also tasks OSPI with identifying a process for providing student enrollment information back to school districts.
Currently, the state’s public colleges and universities provide information regarding postsecondary offerings to roughly half of the high school graduates in the state. Data sharing agreements would help reach the remainder of the high school students who may not otherwise know about these opportunities. Amidst a workforce shortage, the information provided through the agreements would help students, especially those historically underrepresented in the college-going culture, learn that postsecondary education is both attainable and affordable for them. At WSU in 2022, 37 percent of resident undergraduate students paid no tuition and 50 percent of those students graduated with no loan debt, up from 35.6 percent in 2015. Affordability continues to improve as impacts from the Washington College Grant, considered one of the best state financial aid programs in the country, continue to be realized.
WSU, along with the other public baccalaureate institutions and community and technical colleges supported the bill when it was heard in committee. SB 5593 now heads to the House, ahead of Wednesday’s floor cutoff.