Checked 15 Nov 2026 by the team. Sources are listed at the end of the page.
Before Running Start, a Washington home-based student in 9th or 10th grade has to find college-level work elsewhere: RCW 28A.600.310 opens Running Start to students eligible for 11th or 12th grade, including home-based students. Families who want an earlier start can study self-paced ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended courses at home and ask the college in writing how it treats that credit.
Under RCW 28A.600.310, Running Start is open to students eligible for 11th or 12th grade, including students in home-based instruction under chapter 28A.200 RCW; the college waives tuition but may charge mandatory fees, and a rising 11th grader may take up to 10 quarter credits in the summer before 11th grade.
The rule asks for 11th and 12th grade; up to 10 quarter credits in the summer before 11th grade. The legal source is RCW 28A.600.310.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who may enrol in Running Start | Students eligible for 11th or 12th grade, including students in home-based instruction under chapter 28A.200 RCW | [1] |
| Tuition | No tuition; students pay the college's mandatory fees in lieu of tuition | [1] |
| Summer before 11th grade | Up to 10 quarter credits, or the semester equivalent | [1] |
| Home-based declaration | Filed by September 15 or within two weeks of the start of a term | [2] |
| Annual assessment | A standardized test or a written assessment by a certificated person, every year | [2] |
Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), under RCW 28A.600.310; home-based instruction under RCW 28A.200.010 decides how this rule applies to you. We read its published rule and the pages below; each was checked on 15 Nov 2026.
Each course below is ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended for college credit. Whether it counts here is the decision of the college and of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), under RCW 28A.600.310; home-based instruction under RCW 28A.200.010.
The writing course nearly every college degree starts with; a good first course at 14 or 15.
Self-paced online English Composition 1 course (ENG 101). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Research writing, the natural second step once Composition 1 is done.
Self-paced online English Composition 2 course (ENG 102). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
The maths course most degree plans need before statistics or pre-calculus.
Self-paced online College Algebra course (Math 111). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
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For a student heading to calculus in Running Start in 11th grade.
Self-paced online Pre-Calculus course (MATH 115). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
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A history course that doubles as a high school social studies credit on the home transcript.
Self-paced online US History 1 course (HIST 101). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
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Completes the two-course US history sequence many colleges list in general education.
Self-paced online US History 2 course (HIST 102). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →TESU and UoPeople are partner colleges that consider ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended credit; check their own transfer pages for how they review it. For a Washington community or technical college, ask that college in writing.
ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
| Option | Price | For this rule | Price checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPI Study, homeschool lifetime | $250 once, every course | $250 gives homeschool families lifetime access to all UPI Study courses. | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Washington community or technical college, resident, paying tuition | $1,697 a quarter for 15 credits (2026-27, rounded) | What a family pays per quarter outside Running Start, before fees and books | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Sophia Learning | $99 a month | Self-paced courses at home; up to two at a time | 15 Nov 2026 |
| StraighterLine | $99 a month plus a one-time course fee (for example $79 for English Composition I) | Self-paced courses, one at a time, each with its own fee | 15 Nov 2026 |
Running Start students pay no tuition at the college but do pay mandatory fees, books and transport. The years before 11th grade are the gap a family pays for, whichever option it picks.
UPI Study is not a college and is not accredited. ACE and NCCRS review our courses and recommend credit; a college decides whether to give that credit and records it on its own transcript.
Ask the college your student plans to attend in writing how it treats ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended credit before you enrol.
Running Start is Washington's dual enrolment programme at community and technical colleges and some universities. The statute names home-based students directly, so a homeschooled teen can take college classes on campus or online through the college once eligible for 11th grade. The college waives tuition, but the family still pays mandatory fees, books and travel.
Because the programme starts at 11th grade, a 9th or 10th grader in a home-based programme has two years where the college route costs full price. Many families use those years to build study habits, writing skill and maths readiness so the first Running Start quarter goes well.
Under home-based instruction the parent decides the curriculum and keeps the records. A college-level course at home can count twice in a practical sense: as a high school credit the parent writes on the home transcript, and as a possible college credit if a college later reviews the ACE or NCCRS recommendation.
Pick courses that sit in almost every degree plan, so the work is useful whatever the student chooses later. Composition, College Algebra and US History are the usual first picks.
RCW 28A.200.010 asks parents to file a declaration of intent each year and to arrange an annual standardized test or a written assessment by a certificated person. Keep those records with the home transcript. Running Start offices may also use placement tests for English and maths, so a year of college-level writing and algebra at home is good preparation for them.
The district where you live, or the one that accepts the transfer, receives the declaration. Ask that district's Running Start contact how home-based students enrol, since each district and college runs its own forms and dates.
Yes. RCW 28A.600.310 lists students receiving home-based instruction under chapter 28A.200 RCW among those who may enrol, once they are eligible for 11th or 12th grade. Contact your local district and the college's Running Start office for their forms and deadlines, and keep your declaration of intent and annual assessment records ready.
Not during the school year. Running Start is for students eligible for 11th or 12th grade. The statute lets a rising 11th grader take up to 10 quarter credits in the summer before 11th grade. Before that, a family looks at other college-level options at home and pays for them.
Tuition is waived, but it is not free of cost. The statute says Running Start students pay the college's mandatory fees in lieu of tuition, and families also buy books and handle transport. Ask the college for its current fee list before the first quarter.
Courses that appear in almost every degree plan: English Composition 1, College Algebra and US History 1. They build the writing and maths skills Running Start placement tests look for, and the parent can record them as high school credit on the home transcript.
Each college decides. NCCRS and ACE recommendations help a college review the work, but the college sets its own policy. Ask the college your child plans to attend, in writing, before you count on any earlier credit.
SBCTC lists 2026-27 resident lower-division tuition at about $1,697 for one quarter of 15 credits, rounded, before fees and books. That is the price a family weighs for college courses taken before Running Start eligibility.
One payment covers self-paced college-level courses for a home-based student in 9th or 10th grade.