After your first quarter at SPSCC, registration will look different. Each quarter, you will be assigned a day and time to register for the next quarter.
Keep in mind that the college registers earlier than the high school; pay attention to important reminders and dates about registration.
Week 2: Make an appointment with your high school counselor to review your graduation requirements and start filling out next quarter’s Running Start Enrollment Verification Form.
Week 3: Review the class schedule and participate in Pathways Day to begin planning your future transfer and career plans.
Week 4: Use Compass to make an appointment with your Educational & Career Planner at SPSCC to review Degree Planner and your high school graduation requirements.
Week 5: Log into ctcLink to see your registration day and time. Note that this is NOT an appointment with your Educational & Career Planner. This is when the online system will allow you to start registration.
Week 6: If you have any last-minute questions before registration, take advantage of extended Advising, Career & Transfer Center walk-in services.
Week 7: Registration begins for next quarter! Log into ctcLink to complete your registration process. Make an appointment to have your high school counselor sign your Running Start Enrollment Verification Form and turn it in to the Start Here desk on the Olympia campus (bldg. 22) or email it to runningstart@spscc.edu.
All SPSCC students are assigned a primary Educational & Career Planner and Running Start students will work with the Educational & Career Planner matched with the school district listed below. Students are also assigned a faculty mentor based on their degree program, if applicable, in addition to Running Start Educational & Career Planners. New students must first complete all the Steps to Enroll before they can meet with their Educational & Career Planner.
Educational & Career Planners are available for walk-in questions during posted hours or for 30-minute, long-term planning appointments which are scheduled via your Compass account. Non-time-sensitive questions and electronic form submissions can be sent to advising@spscc.edu.
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Olympia School District
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North Thurston, Rainier & Yelm School Districts
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Tumwater School District
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Online students and all other school districts
Running Start students are considered regular college students and are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Parents/caregivers will not have access to your grades, class schedules, etc.
Students may give parents/caregivers permission to view this information by submitting the Release of Records Form in person with a photo ID to Enrollment Services (Building 22 at the Olympia Campus or Building 1 at the Lacey Campus).
You're choosing to participate in the Running Start program and therefore, choosing to be a college student. FERPA laws apply to your educational records just like any other college student. We encourage Running Start students to fill out the Release of Records, but it's not required. You may also pull or modify the release at any time during your enrollment at SPSCC by working with Enrollment Services.
Higher education doesn't have the required attendance laws that the K-12 system does. This means we're not tracking our student’s attendance in class or even their grades until final grades are posted at the end of the quarter. It's the student’s responsibility to show up to class and do the work. If they don’t, the result will be a failing grade. Even with a Release of Records on file, we don't have access to your attendance or grades during the quarter. We encourage families to communicate with each other about how classes are going if there are attendance or grade concerns.
The Release of Records only protects access to your student record at the college. When you sign the Running Start Verification Form each quarter, you're giving SPSCC permission to share information including grades, billing, registration, and attendance information directly with the high school. Once this information is released to the high school, your parents have full access to it in accordance with the laws that govern the release of information to parents in the K-12 system.
It's the student's responsibility to make sure that classes they're taking at SPSCC will count toward high school graduation requirements and stay within the funding limits (unless the student chooses to over-enroll and pay the tuition costs). You must work closely with your high school Counselor and assigned Running Start Educational & Career Planner to help navigate both high school and college requirements.
Maintaining a strong grade point average (GPA) as a college student is very important! All SPSCC students are required to maintain a minimum 2.0 quarterly GPA to stay enrolled at the college. Grades for your SPSCC classes also go on your permanent SPSCC Official Transcript which you will be required to submit to any transfer college or university and potential employers. Your grades also go back to the high school exactly as they are at the college and will be added to your cumulative high school GPA.
Reach out to your Educational & Career Planner for help! SPSCC has a lot of academic and personal support resources that are FREE to you as a student. If you aren’t sure what kind of help you need, start with your ECP and they can help guide you to the appropriate resource. Getting help is not a sign that you aren’t “smart” or not ready to be a college student. Successful students tend to be the ones who do use the resources at the college to help support them.
One of the benefits of Running Start is the potential to earn your degree by the time you finish high school. This takes a lot of careful planning to make sure you're also taking care of all your high school graduation requirements. You should meet with your Educational & Career Planner every quarter to review your Degree Planner. This will help keep you on track and make sure you don’t miss any important classes toward your degree at SPSCC.
Running Start students have imposed funding limits that restrict the total number of credits they can take through the program. The funding limits table is available on the Running Start Enrollment Verification form (RSEVF). Each quarter as you register for classes you will be charged full tuition. You must submit a new RSEVF by the tuition due date to reduce the tuition.
The Running Start program only covers funding for tuition within the funding limits table. It doesn't cover the cost of the course, program, and student fees. Running Start students are responsible for paying the fees on their courses each quarter unless they qualify for and are approved for the Fee Waiver program. Fees are due by the tuition due date each quarter.
Running Start does not cover the tuition cost of:
The cost of tuition in any of these situations is the responsibility of the student. If you have questions about your charges, please contact Enrollment Services at enroll@spscc.edu or 360-596-5241.
If you don't pay your fees by the tuition due date, you'll be dropped from your classes for non-payment. It's important to check your SPSCC student email at least once a week so you don't miss important messages and reminders.
Running Start students can take Summer Quarter classes, however there are some restrictions. Please see the Summer Running Start page for the most up to date information.
If you have taken any classes at SPSCC outside of the Running Start program, those grades are not automatically sent back to your high school. Because you self pay, you must request that we send your grades. Self Pay classes include:
Students need to fill out the Running Start Summer & Self Pay Grades Request Form. Requests will be processed within 1 week of grades being posted or of the request. You may not see the classes show up on your high school transcript until after the new academic year since high schools are closed over the summer.
A second-year senior may enroll in the Running Start program if they have been enrolled previously in Running Start as an 11th or 12th grade student but may only take those specific courses needed to meet the school district, charter school or tribal compact school graduation requirements.
Additionally, a student enrolled in Running Start for more than one senior school year is limited to a maximum of 63 total credits for all senior years combined. A second-year senior is generally understood as being a student who has failed to meet high school graduation requirements by the end of the student’s 12th grade academic year in accordance with WAC 392-169-055.
Homeschool students wishing to extend Running Start eligibility into a third year may only do so if accessing Running Start through a school district or public high school, whereby their outstanding graduation requirements may be identified. They, too, may take only those courses needed to satisfy the district’s graduation requirements and are limited to 63 total credits in their senior years. This limitation applies even if the student does not intend to graduate from the public high school.
Second-year seniors have a registration block on their account and must register in person with their signed RSEVF showing which courses are still needed for high school completion. If a second-year senior chooses to enroll in courses not listed on the RSEVF, they will owe full tuition and fees on those selections. If you think you qualify for second-year senior status, contact Dual Credit Programs for more information: runningstart@spscc.edu or 360-596-5440.
