Washington Has Generous Financial Aid Programs. But Not Enough Students Take Advantage of Them.

Washington state has made significant progress toward making college more affordable. In the fall of 2020, the state launched the Washington College Grant, which can make college tuition-free, or nearly free, for students from low and middle income families. The state also operates the College Bound Scholarship, which promises to cover the average tuition cost at more than 65 public colleges, universities, and technical schools in Washington for middle school students who receive free and reduced priced lunch, if those students graduate from high school with a GPA above 2.0. Washington describes these programs as some of the most generous state financial aid programs in the country, and for good reason. In the 2021-2022 academic year, the Washington College Grant provided more than 94,000 students with more than $400 million of financial aid to help cover the cost of college.

But there are limitations to the programmatic design and implementation of Washington’s efforts to make college more affordable. Both the Washington College Grant and the College Bound Scholarship have confusing eligibility requirements: while they can make college tuition-free for many students from low and moderate income families, it’s not clear exactly what benefit amount a student would receive unless they fill out either the FAFSA–which has long been marred by confusing requirements itself–or the WASFA, which is also a challenging process to navigate. Because of this, teachers, guidance counselors, and other adults working to expand college access can’t simply tell prospective college students that they can go to college for free or receive a certain amount of money towards their tuition and fees. Rather, they must encourage them to navigate confusing state and federal financial aid applications, and then hope students are satisfied with the result. This almost certainly limits the programs’ impacts.

Washington has one of the lowest FAFSA completion rates of any state, as only 34 percent of current Washington high school seniors completed the FAFSA by March 17, 2023. While completing the FAFSA allows students to learn if they are eligible for the Washington College Grant, the low percentage of FAFSA completions undermine the state's efforts to make college more affordable. There are likely many students who are eligible for the Washington College Grant but do not receive it simply because they do not–or can not–adequately navigate the financial aid application process. As a result, Washington’s programs are underutilized and therefore fail to expand access to higher education the way the state may have intended.

This raises an important reality that Washington–and states everywhere–need to grapple with: efforts to make college more affordable are more effective the simpler their eligibility and application requirements are. In the case of Washington, while the state may have good reason to increase the percentage of high school students who complete the FAFSA or the WASFA, policymakers should also strive to make it easier for eligible students to receive the benefits that are available to them through programs like the Washington College Grant. If they don’t, the potential benefits of the state’s financial aid programs will continue to be limited by unnecessary administrative burden.

The most effective efforts to make college affordable offer clear solutions that reduce the cost of college attendance. For example, straightforward free-tuition programs–particularly those that are first-dollar programs that waive tuition for students without considering other sources of financial aid–strongly motivate people to attend college and can help alleviate longstanding racial and economic inequities in higher education. To best address the college affordability crisis and expand access to higher education, states should design first-dollar programs that provide universal benefits to all residents regardless of age or income, much like what New Mexico has done by making its public colleges and universities tuition free. But, not every state can do this for fiscal and political reasons. What states can do, though, is ensure the programs they do offer are easily explained, understood, and accessed by the students they seek to serve.

Washington has clearly prioritized efforts to make college more affordable for the state's low and middle income residents. While these efforts have helped thousands of Washingtonians access higher education, state policy choices have also limited the scope of Washington’s efforts to make college affordable. The state needs to both increase the percentage of its high school students who complete the FAFSA and the WAFSA–and importantly–simplify the process to access state financial aid.

If the state could, for example, proactively advertise that through the Washington College Grant all students under a certain income threshold could go to college for free, they could see an increase in college enrollment demonstrating expanded access to higher education. Subsequent state policy actions are needed to ensure all eligible Washingtonians know about–and can easily access–the Washington College Grant. Let’s hope the state advances solutions to continue its progress to make affordable college a reality.

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