2020 Commission Report
By the year 2020, our postsecondary education system will need to serve over 100,000 more learners than it served in 1998. This 50% growth will be driven not just by demographics, but also by the advent of a knowledge-based economy in which good jobs require higher levels of skill and knowledge than ever before. And it will be driven by the higher hopes and the academic expectations and abilities of young people who have benefited from this state's relentless focus on high standards in public schools.
www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/governorlocke/taskcomm/2020/learning.htm

U.S Census Bureau Report
According to a newly released U.S. Census Bureau report, the average worker 18 years and over with a bachelor’s degree will earn $51,206 a year, compared to just $27,915 for those with only a high school diploma (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). The great earning gap between the college educated and those without a college degree is widening. Moreover, while the percentage of those with a bachelor’s degree reached an all-time high of 28 percent in 2004, weaker earning figures diminishes spending and state tax revenues.
www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html

GET
Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) is a prepaid college tuition program that lets parents buy tomorrow’s college tuition today.
www.get.wa.gov

HECB
The Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board is a state agency governed by a 10-member citizen board charged by state law with representing the "broad public interest" in higher education and helping students succeed.
www.hecb.wa.gov

Among its duties HECB administers state financial aid programs, including the community scholarship matching grant program. 
www.hecb.wa.gov/Grants/csmg/csmgindex.asp

NCES
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.  
www.nces.ed.gov.

NELA
Northwest Education Loan Association® (NELA) is a not-for-profit guaranty agency that works in partnership with schools, banks and other lending institutions to help students continue their education. NELA administers the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and guarantees the loans against default. This guarantee allows commercial lenders to make loans to students, who often have no collateral or credit history.
www.nela.net

USA Funds
USA Funds® is a nonprofit corporation that works to enhance postsecondary- education preparedness, access and success by providing and supporting financial and other valued services. USA Funds links colleges, universities, proprietary schools, private lenders, students and parents to promote financial access to higher learning.
www.usafunds.org

ThanksUSA
ThanksUSA is a new 501c3 that provides scholarships to spouses and children of active duty military as a way of saying “thanks” to those who are serving. The organization is a non-partisan nonprofit started by two sisters, ages eight and 10, their parents, and their parents’ friends. The scholarships are between$1,000-5,000. The application process is handled by Scholarship America. To learn more about this program, visit www.ThanksUSA.org.