A state law passed in 1990 allows eligible high school juniors and seniors to attend college classes for free. These students take the same placement tests that incoming freshmen take and must meet the same performance standards that other college students meet. Once enrolled, the classes they take count towards both high school graduation and college completion. Since its inception, the Running Start program has been very popular and the number of Running Start students continues to grow each year. Parents and students alike see the benefits, economic and otherwise for getting a head start on a college degree.
Students turn in their work by e-mailing it to their instructor.
Course discussions are posted to web pages using threaded conferencing software and virtual office hours are held using chat rooms. That's what is meant by community-based learning. Three Seattle Public branch libraries, Lake City, Douglas Truth, and High Point have partnered with Seattle Community College in providing access to the Virtual Running Start web site from their computer labs. Garfield, Nathan Hale, and West Seattle are the high schools who are participating in the program. Faculty at North Seattle Community College and Garfield High School have re-designed two existing courses and created a new course for the VRS program.