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Editorial: College prep programs need smart funding

Sun., March 1, 2015

Running Start, a program that has been a tremendous boon to high school students, may run more slowly soon, but there would be more students on the track.

Given the increasing support for K-14 education that takes students two years beyond high school graduation to better prepare them for the economy of the future, more access would be a positive.

But Eastern Washington University and Central Washington University officials warn that a proposed restructuring and funding changes may make it uneconomical for them to offer courses.

As conceived, Running Start was supposed to bring junior and senior students onto college campuses, where they would take dual-credit courses that counted toward high school graduation requirements and their college transcripts. The colleges receive a share of state per-student payments to the school district, which Running Start administrators say is barely break-even.

The program has accelerated college graduation for thousands of students, and reduced tuition payments by their parents; by $20 million at Eastern just since 2012. Now, however, most of those students are no longer on campus, but in their high schools, where they are taught college-level courses by teachers certified and supervised by the colleges.

Eastern’s Running Start in the High School classes are offered in 55 mostly rural high schools, where 3,000 students are earning 20,000 credits.

But taking Running Start off-campus now runs parallel with another program, College in High School, for which students might pay fees ranging from $0 to $1,200. The programs are competing for students and money. The Legislature is taking the role of hall monitor.

House Substitute Bill 1546 has passed out of the education and appropriations committees. The bill kicks Running Start out of the high schools, but the courses would continue as College in High School offerings.

New tuition and book subsidies would be introduced. Sophomores could enroll, which the Office of Public Instruction estimates would increase enrollment in Running Start and College in High School significantly.

The subsidies, however, fall short of what Eastern officials say the college needs to maintain the program in rural areas. An estimated 2,300 high school students might lose access to Eastern courses.

Tuition subsidies will help students who qualify for free or reduced lunches, or those who score well on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test, or SBAC. About one-third of those taking the test attain the required scores. Many middle class students may not make the cut.

For the state, the result would be more spending on the two programs, about $23 million in the upcoming biennium.

The changes called for in HSB 1546 will most affect rural high schools and students east of the Cascade Mountains. The Legislature should eliminate overlapping programs, and higher enrollment would be encouraging. But that may not happen if the new financial plan does not make sense for Eastern and Central.