(1) Recipients of the Washington award for excellence in education named by the office of the superintendent of public instruction prior to January 1, 1994 may elect to receive their award in the form of the academic grant. The academic grant shall be used to reimburse recipients for actual costs of tuition and fees up to a maximum of forty-five quarter or thirty semester credit hours. The rate of reimbursement per credit hour shall not exceed the resident, graduate, part-time cost per credit hour at the University of Washington in the year the recipient takes the credit.

(2) Recipients who were awarded the tuition/fee waiver benefit for forty-five quarter or thirty semester credits prior to May 17, 1991 shall receive the remaining value of the tuition/fee waiver in the form of the academic grant. Conversion of the tuition/fee waiver to the value of individual recipient academic grants shall be calculated as a ratio of available (unused) credits remaining in the tuition/fee waiver benefit to the total credits originally awarded.

(3) Consistent with terms of prior law, academic grant recipients who received notification of their award by the office of the superintendent of public instruction prior to May 17, 1991 may be eligible to receive a stipend not to exceed one thousand dollars for costs incurred in taking courses covered by the academic grant.

(4) Academic grant recipients who received notification of their award by the office of the superintendent of public instruction after May 17, 1991 and before January 1, 1994 may be eligible to receive a stipend not to exceed one thousand dollars for costs incurred in taking courses covered by the academic grant only if funds are [specially] [specifically] appropriated for stipends under this program.

(5) Washington private colleges and universities may elect to participate in the program.

(a) Academic grant recipients attending Washington private colleges and universities may receive the grant, provided the following additional criteria are met:

(i) The institution elects to participate in the program; and

(ii) The institution matches the amount of the academic grant received by the recipient from the state on at least a dollar-for-dollar basis, either with actual money or by waiver of fees. If the institution chooses to match the academic grant with actual cash rather than by waiver of tuition/fees, the institutional match shall consist of dollars derived from institutional grant aid funds.

(b) The maximum reimbursement payable per credit by the state to a recipient attending a Washington private institution under the academic grant shall be calculated as the lesser of one of the following amounts:

(i) One-half of the recipient's cost of tuition/fees for that academic term; or[,]

(ii) The resident, graduate, part-time cost per credit hour for tuition/fees at the University of Washington for an equivalent number of allowable credits in the year the recipient takes the credit; and[,]

(iii) Not to exceed the maximum value of credits remaining in the recipient's academic grant award; and[,]

(iv) Not to exceed the dollar value provided by the institution to match the state portion of the academic grant.

(c) Any academic grant recipient who received notification of his or her award by the office of the superintendent of public instruction prior to May 17, 1991 has a vested right to the one thousand dollar stipend, including those recipients who elect to attend a private institution. Academic grant recipients named by the office of the superintendent of public instruction after May 17, 1991 shall be entitled to receive payment of the stipend only if funds are specifically appropriated for stipends under this program. However, private institutions are not required to match the amount of the stipend.

(6) Academic grant recipients who elect to use the grant for courses at a public or private higher education institution in another state or country may receive the grant, provided the following additional criteria are met:

(a) The institution has an exchange program with a public or private higher education institution in Washington and the exchange program is approved or recognized by the higher education coordinating board; or

(b) The institution is approved or recognized by the higher education coordinating board; and

(c) The recipient of the Washington award for excellence in education (Christa McAuliffe) academic grant has submitted in writing to the higher education coordinating board an explanation of why the preferred course or courses are not available at a public or private institution in Washington.

(7) Teachers, principals, administrators, superintendents employed by second class school districts, and classified employees who are designated to receive the Washington award for excellence in education by the office of the superintendent of public instruction after January 1, 1994 shall receive a recognition award with a value of at least two thousand five hundred dollars.

(8) Superintendents employed by first class school districts who are designated to receive the Washington award for excellence in education by the office of the superintendent of public instruction after January 1, 1994 shall receive a recognition award with a value of at least one thousand dollars.

(9) School boards which are designated to receive a Washington award for excellence in education by the office of the superintendent of public instruction after January 1, 1994 shall receive a recognition award not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars. The school board must use its recognition award for an educational purpose.

(10) Recipients of the Washington award for excellence in education named by the office of the superintendent of public instruction prior to January 1, 1994, who elected to receive the award in the form of the academic grant, may convert the remaining value of the academic grant to the recognition award, at their discretion and contingent upon funds availability. In addition, recipients named prior to May 17, 1991 may have the remaining value of the stipend for related educational expenses added to their converted academic grant.

(a) At a minimum, conversion of the academic grant to the recognition award shall be calculated as a ratio of available (unused) credits remaining in the academic grant benefit to the maximum number of credit hours originally awarded in the academic grant (forty-five quarter or thirty semester credit hours). This ratio shall be multiplied by the full value of the recognition award in the fiscal year the conversion option is exercised to determine the dollar value of the recipient's converted academic grant award.

(b) The converted award value of the academic grant shall not exceed the value of the current year's recognition award plus the converted value of any remaining stipend for related educational expenses that the recipient is eligible to receive.

(c) Stipend benefits for related educational expenses may be converted only in conjunction with the academic grant, unless the recipient's remaining award value resides solely in the stipend benefit. In that event, the stipend value may be separately converted to the recognition award.

(d) Academic grant recipients who have fully utilized the value of the academic grant (forty-five quarter or thirty semester credits) and the related stipend, if applicable, or whose four year eligibility period for use of the academic grant as defined in WAC 250-78-040(4) has expired, are not eligible to retroactively convert the academic grant to a recognition award.