PORT ANGELES — More than 350 area high school students are gaining a lead on their education this year by already being enrolled in college thanks to a program that continues to grow steadily on the North Olympic Peninsula.
In the fall 2015 quarter, 354 high school juniors and seniors registered for classes at Peninsula College, representing every high school in the area.
They are a part of the Running Start program, a program founded in 1992 that allows high school juniors, seniors and General Educational Development certificate recipients younger than 21 years, to attend college part- or full-time with tuition paid by their public school district.
“It’s a cheap route to go. I can get both my associate degree and my high school diploma,” said Port Angeles resident Branden Currie, 17, a Running Start student at Peninsula College.
Teaching styles at the college are a better fit for his learning style, and the challenging classes will help support his applications to civil engineering schools at Washington State University, the University of Washington and Montana State University, Currie said Monday in the Peninsula College library.
Tests to pass
Applicants must take the Compass test, a college-level placement exam, and meet university-level language arts entry standards.
Students who want to take university-level math courses must qualify on the Compass test.
Once qualified, students may take university level transfer courses or enter the college’s vocational certificate programs, such as welding or composites.
Running Start students have a choice of taking part in bands or orchestras at their high school or the college, as well as student activities and clubs at either school, but can only take part in competitive athletics at their high schools, according to Running Start rules.
“They bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and tend to be well-prepared to do college-level work,” said Luke Robins, president of Peninsula College.
Peninsula College offers a more diverse population for the students, including international students and older students, Robins said.
“It’s good for the kids and good for the college,” he said.
Taking it seriously
Port Townsend resident Samantha Brooks, 18, graduated from Port Townsend High School in June and expects to finish her associate degree in December after spending two years in the Running Start program taking classes at Peninsula College’s Fort Worden campus.
College classes have a different feeling than in high school because everyone in the school is there because they want to be, including high school juniors to professional adults returning to school for additional classes, Brooks said.
“People take it more seriously,” she said.
Brooks said that at Peninsula College she not only learned that she has a talent with math, she was also offered a job tutoring other students in math and in marine science.
She intends to transfer to the University of Washington or Western Washington University to study criminal forensics, she said.
Started off in 1992
Founded in 1992, the program has grown steadily, both statewide and on the Olympic Peninsula.
In 2011, the state had 17,000 students in the program, and by 2014 there were 20,000, according to state records.
In 2015 there were 252 Peninsula College Running Start students registered full-time and 102 part-time, said Cindy Lauderback, director of the Peninsula College high school programs.
Enrollment grew annually in the Running Start program, even as high school enrollment declined, Lauderback said.
Districts count those students as enrolled and receive state funding for them, then pass the funding on to the college to pay for those students’ tuition.
Many are earning associate degrees by the time they graduate from high school, Lauderback said.
In 2013, there were 122 seniors registered and 48 earned an associate degree before graduating from high school.
In 2014, that number was 42 of the 152 registered seniors.
In 2015, there were 73 dual-graduates, nearly half of the 157 registered seniors.
Not all of the registered seniors were full-time college students, and many were new to the program as seniors, Lauderback said.
Three campuses
Running Start students can choose to attend classes at any of the three Peninsula College campuses in Port Angeles, Port Townsend or Forks, or take online classes.
Forks resident Reese Moody, 17, is currently registered as a senior at Forks High School but attends all of his classes at the Forks Peninsula College campus at 481 S. Forks Ave.
Universities like to see applicants who have taken the accelerated Advanced Placement courses at the high schools and actual college courses at community colleges, but it doesn’t have to be a choice, Moody said.
“I did both in my junior year. I did part time college last year, and took AP world history, and got a four [out of a possible score of five]” he said.
Moody said he decided to move on from the high school classes and concentrate on his college classes and earn an associate degree before graduation. He expects to enter a university as either a sophomore or a junior.
He is in the process of applying to attend Eastern Washington University in 2016, and he said he plans to major in sociology.
He said he is beginning to run out of classes to take on the Forks campus and in January will begin traveling to Port Angeles every day to finish his associate of arts transfer degree.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
