The University of Washington said on Wednesday that it would provide a free education to all students who are state residents and who qualify for Pell Grants or State Need grants, two programs for students from low-income families, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported today.

The program, slated to start in 2007, would give a free ride to as many as 5,000 students on the university’s three campuses, and it would be guaranteed, regardless of the size of tuition increases. The scholarships would cost the university as much as $2.8-million after they had been fully phased in, and funds to support the program would come from a capital campaign that is in progress. The initiative follows others announced in recent years by elite private colleges and leading public institutions, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia.