Brief Description: Promoting school district accountability for academic preparation.

Sponsors: Representative Anderson.

Hearing Date: 1/30/04

Staff: Barbara McLain (786-7383).

Background:

Precollege class. A precollege class refers to academic work taken by postsecondary students that is required for college-level study in English and mathematics. Precollege classes do not carry credit and are not accepted for transfer into baccalaureate or transfer associate degree programs.

Of the high school graduating class of 2002, approximately 29 percent (18,022 students) enrolled immediately in a community or technical college for the 2002-03 academic year. More than half (57 percent) of these students enrolled in one or more precollege class in their first year of attendance at the college. An additional 19 percent (11,675 students) of graduates enroll in a community or technical college within one or two years after graduation, where more than one-third (35 percent) take a precollege class.

For 2003, the public four-year institutions reported the following number of students within three years of high school graduation enrolled in precollege classes:

      University of Washington:            101

      Washington State University:        35

      Central Washington University:    549

      Eastern Washington University 1,437

      Western Washington University:  88

      The Evergreen State College:        Not Applicable

In part the lower numbers are due to competitive admission standards, but institutions also have different ways of providing remedial services for students. Some require students to take precollege classes through a community or technical college; one provides supplemental tutoring rather than requiring the student to enroll in a separate class.

For Fiscal Year 2003, the estimated cost from the state general fund and tuition for precollege classes for recent high school graduates was $16.8 million for the community and technical colleges and $530,000 for the four-year institutions.

Running Start Program. For every full-time equivalent (FTE) high school student enrolled in a college or university through the Running Start program, the school district reimburses the higher education institution. The district may keep 7 percent of the allocation for administration and counseling. For 2003-04, the reimbursement rate for students enrolled in academic programs is $3,924 per FTE student or $87 per credit hour. The reimbursement rate for vocational students is $4,664 per FTE student or $104 per credit hour.

Summary of Bill:

Beginning with Fall 2005, for every student enrolled in a state-supported precollege class at a public institution of higher education who graduated from a Washington school district within the last three years, the institution will assess a charge to the school district granting the high school diploma.

The charge assessed will be the allocation rate per credit hour for the Running Start program, plus 7 percent and minus tuition and fees. The amount deducted for tuition and fees may be based on per credit hour tuition or the amount charged for resident undergraduate students for the same number of credits. The amount deducted must be uniform among community and technical colleges, but may vary for the four-year institutions.

School districts must use money from local funds to pay the charges. If the district does not have sufficient local funds, non-basic education funds may be used.

Institutions of higher education can not include recent high school graduates in precollege classes in their enrollment reports for purposes of receiving state funding.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and the governing board of each four-year institution must adopt rules to implement these provisions by June 30, 2005.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.