Program Description.  The Running Start (RS) program allows students in grades 11 and 12 to enroll in participating public institutions of higher education and to simultaneously earn both high school and college credit.  Students choosing to participate in the RS program are responsible for applying for admission to the institution of higher education.

Student Fees.  Students in the RS program do not pay tuition, but do pay for educational materials, mandatory fees, and transportation costs.  Public institutions of higher education must make fee waivers available for low-income RS students.  The waiver is funded out of each institution's operating budget, not additional state funding.  In addition, many RS students receive book loan funds through college foundations.
 
Enrollment Limits.  The state's operating budget specifies that students participating in RS programs may be funded up to a combined maximum enrollment of 1.2 full-time equivalents (FTEs), including school district and institution of higher education enrollment.  When calculating the combined 1.2 FTEs, the operating budget allows the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to average an RS student's September through June enrollment to account for differences in the start and end dates for courses provided by the high school and the institution of higher education.
 
The operating budget directs the OSPI, in consultation with the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, the Washington Student Achievement Council, and the Education Research and Data Center, to annually track and report to the Legislature on the combined FTE experience of students participating in the RS program, including course load analyses at both the high school and community and technical college system.

Summer Pilot Program.  In 2020 legislation was enacted that created a two-year RS Summer School Pilot Program (RS Pilot) to evaluate interest in and barriers to expanding the RS program to include the summer term.  Three community colleges participated in the RS Pilot.  In addition to students eligible for the RS program, people who graduated from a participating high school in the current school year and who have five or fewer college credits to earn before meeting associate degree requirements were eligible to earn a maximum of five college credits through the RS Pilot.

A report to the Legislature with findings and recommendations regarding the RS Pilot, including recommending whether to expand the RS program to include the summer term, was required in November 2022.  The report included recommendations related to:  (1) full and consistent RS funding; (2) funding to support summer staff at the high schools; (3) student eligibility; and (4) integrated electronic tracking and reporting.

Summer Enrollment Rules.  The 2022 Supplemental Operating Budget directed the OSPI to adopt rules to fund a participating RS student's enrollment in RS courses during the summer term.

It is explicitly stated that every school district, charter school, and state-tribal education compact school must allow eligible students to participate in the Running Start (RS) program.
 
Students participating in RS programs may be funded up to a combined maximum enrollment of 1.4 full-time equivalents (FTEs), including high school and institution of higher education enrollment.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) rules for state funding RS student summer enrollment must limit enrollment to a maximum of 10 college credits per student per summer term.

Other provisions from the operating budget are modified and codified to specify:

1. the OSPI may average the participating student's September through June enrollment to account for differences in the start and end dates for courses provided by the high school and the institution of higher education; and
2. the OSPI, in consultation with the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, the institutions of higher education, the Washington Student Achievement Council, and the Education Research and Data Center, must annually track and report to the Legislature the combined FTE experience of students participating in RS programs, including course load analyses and enrollments by high school and institutions of higher education.

It is declared that the RS programs as a service delivery model and associated funding levels beyond 1.0 FTE per student are not part of the state's statutory program of basic education.

The provision stating that the statutes governing the RS program are in addition to and not intended to adversely affect agreements between school districts and public institutions of higher education in effect on April 11, 1990, no longer applies to agreements in effect "in the future."