Running Start. Running Start allows eleventh- and twelfth-grade high school students to take courses at community colleges, technical colleges, and various four-year institutions of higher education. Upon completion of a course, students earn both high school and college credit.
Students in Running Start 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 Running Start students.
Enrollment Limits. The state's operating budget specifies that students participating in Running Start 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 a Running Start student's September through June enrollment to account for differences in the start and end dates for courses provided by the high school and institutions of higher education.
The operating budget directs 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 Running Start, 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 Running Start Summer School Pilot Program (Pilot) to evaluate interest in and barriers to expanding Running Start to include the summer academic term. Three community colleges participated in the Pilot. In addition to students eligible for Running Start, people who graduated from a participating high school in the current school year and who had five or fewer college credits to earn before meeting associate degree requirements were eligible to earn a maximum of five college credits through the Pilot.
A required report to the Legislature, due in November 2022, included recommendations related to full and consistent Running Start funding; funding to support summer staff at the high schools; student eligibility; and integrated electronic tracking and reporting.
The 2022 supplemental operating budget directed OSPI to adopt rules to fund a participating Running Start student's enrollment in Running Start courses during the summer term.
The 2022 supplemental operating budget also appropriated $3 million for OSPI to distribute after-exit Running Start grants to school districts that identify Running Start students that have exceeded maximum enrollment under Running Start formulas and high school graduates who have 15 or fewer college credits to earn before meeting associate degree requirements. The high school graduates who meet these requirements may receive funds to earn up to 15 college credits during the summer academic term following their high school graduation.
Every school district, charter school, and state-tribal education compact school must allow eligible students to participate in Running Start.
Students participating in Running Start may be funded up to a combined maximum enrollment of 1.6 FTEs, including school district and institution of higher education enrollment.
Provisions in the operating budget are modified and codified to specify:
It is declared that Running Start programs as a service delivery model, associated funding levels beyond 1.0 FTE per student, and funding for high school graduates enrolled in Running Start courses, are not part of the state's statutory program of basic education.
The provision stating that the statutes governing Running Start 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.