The Washington state honors award program shall recognize the top ten percent of the students in the state in each year's public and private high school graduating class who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement. Outstanding academic achievement shall be determined by the following criteria:

(1) An academic achievement index based upon a combination of the combined high school grade point average (calculated as provided in WAC 180-57-055) in the academic core subjects of English, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, and languages other than English which may include American Indian languages and the combined verbal and quantitative composite scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT);

(2) Credits (as defined in WAC 180-51-050) earned in grades nine through twelve in the academic core subjects of English, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, and foreign language;

(3) Completion of at least seventy-five percent of the graduation requirements for the high school in which the candidate is enrolled; and

(4) Enrollment in at least three academic core subjects in grade twelve.

In order to be considered for a Washington honors award, students must have taken the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) prior to January 31 of the year of graduation and be enrolled in a participating high school as indicated by the principal on forms provided by the superintendent of public instruction.