Committee hears bill to make Washington Guaranteed Admissions Program statewide

Vice Chair Greg Nance and members of the Postsecondary Education & Workforce Committee heard testimony on House Bill 15-57, known as the Washington Guaranteed Admissions Program or WAGAP, which would codify a program offering guaranteed admission notices to eligible Washington high school students.

For the record, Shranda Ross, counsel to the committee, told members the bill would codify the Council of Presidents' existing program and require participating institutions to simplify and streamline admissions forms and to notify eligible students and families about WAGAP and related financial- and career‑pathway resources. "Guaranteed admissions does not guarantee enrollment in a specific degree program," Ross said, adding the bill sets a 3.0 GPA and completion of Washington's college academic distribution requirements as eligibility conditions.

The bill's prime sponsor, Representative Reid, said the measure "says that if you are a student in Washington state and you've done the work in high school, you got pretty good grades, you took all your courses, you graduated,…