There are just a few more days left for ninth-graders to sign up for the College Bound Scholarship.

The scholarship is for a full college scholarship. This year, a one-time exception was made for ninth-graders. The scholarship is for seventh- and eighth-graders normally and, until June 30, current ninth-graders can also sign up. The scholarship pays for four years at any college the student is accepted to, along with fees and books.

There are some qualifications for the scholarship. Students must either be eligible for free or reduced lunches, receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits, be a foster child or meet low-income standards. Students must sign a pledge that requires them to keep their grades above a 2.5 GPA, follow the criteria and stay out of trouble.

Federal Way Public Schools made a push this year to get as many students signed up as possible. District-wide, 1,123 students signed up.

The district worked with teachers and counselors and incorporated telling parents about the scholarship at Student Led Conferences. Many contract applications went out, but the real problem was getting them back.

“It’s a lot of work,” district spokeswoman Diane Turner said. “It’s a lot of one-on-one.”

One of the biggest problems involved kids moving around a lot, Turner said.

Some schools had interesting ways to motivate the kids to turn in the contract, including allowing a “free dress day.” Principal Christine Baker at Totem Middle School had almost half the students in the district signed up after allowing a free dress day, in which students could wear anything they want at the uniformed school.

Some details in the program are still being worked out.

As it stands now, students must still be in the low-income level when they graduate to receive the scholarship.

However, Turner said the state is looking at that language. In the meantime, the main goal is to get the kids signed up. Another concern some school board members mentioned was how the state will pay for it, when education funding is already getting hit hard.

“They are offering hope they couldn’t have before,” school board member Amye Bronson-Doherty said. “The state had better uphold their end, paying for that education.”

Turner said the state is buying Guaranteed Education Tuition credits and is already buying the college credits at today’s rates for the students.