Let your Representative know...
Restoring College Bound funding is a priority for you!
Use the WA State District Finder to identify your representative and contact them to explain why they should support restoring full student aid funding for College Bound and the Washington College Grant.
Key Talking Points: Restore Student Aid Now!
Your voice is powerful. A personal message is the most effective way to protect student financial aid. Use these points when contacting your lawmakers, the Governor, or other officials.
- Be Personal: Briefly share how your PLU experience shaped your career or life. This connection is more impactful than any template.
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State Your Clear Ask: Urge legislators to restore full student aid funding (College Bound Scholarship and Washington College Grant) during this legislative session.
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Highlight the Need: Emphasize that these cuts directly hurt low-income and first-generation students who rely on this aid for access to a quality education like PLU.
It only takes a few minutes, but it secures opportunities for hundreds of future Lutes.
1. The Broken Promise to High-Need Students
PLU has a bold commitment to access and opportunity. For over a decade, we’ve stretched our resources to serve high-need students, and today, nearly 25% of our students are College Bound Scholars.
A funding cut of this size unfairly penalizes these high-promise students and is too large for PLU to absorb, directly threatening our ability to serve them.
PLU’s mission, rooted in our Lutheran heritage, prioritizes expanding opportunity and justice, making the cuts a direct threat to our “Community of Transformative Care.”
2. Loss of Student Choice and Future Workforce
The state is breaking its promise, forcing our most deserving students to pay more and potentially causing them to lose their choice of institution—the exact opposite of the aid program’s intent.
College Bound-qualifying students at PLU graduate at rates 7% higher than their peers and are critical to Washington’s future workforce. Penalizing them now jeopardizes both their futures and the state’s economic vitality.
3. The Fiscal and Moral Failure
If PLU can’t bridge the funding gap, these students won’t simply vanish. They may be forced to attend public universities where the state will actually spend more College Bound dollars per student.
This displacement shifts the entire financial burden onto the public system, which will cost the state more in the long run.
The right choice for Washington: Supporting PLU’s commitment to access is the fiscally responsible and morally right choice to ensure students are not denied the opportunity for economic mobility.
The Hard Facts: What Changed?
Senate Bill 5785 (2025 Legislative Session) drastically changes how Washington State Financial Aid supports PLU students.
College Bound Program
BEFORE SB 5785
Students received ≈$13,000
(Until 2026-27)
AFTER SB 5785 (Starting Academic Year)
Students will receive ≈$6,500
(Starting 2027-28)
THE IMPACT
≈$6,500 decrease per student, per year.
College Grant Program
BEFORE SB 5785
Students could receive up to ≈$9,739
(Until 2025-26)
AFTER SB 5785 (Starting Academic Year)
Students could receive up to ≈$6,200
(Starting 2026-27)
THE IMPACT
≈$3,539 decrease per student, per year.
Stay Informed as the Legislative Session Begins
We know you are busy. If you want to stay connected and receive timely, clear steps as the legislative session opens in January 2026, please sign up below. We will only send updates when your voice is truly needed.