Running Start students must submit the following in order to be considered for the Running Start Program:

• SVC application
• High School Transcript or Intent to Homeschool form

Submit an Admission Application online at the Washington State Community & Technical College Web Admissions Center (Be sure to select Skagit Valley College after creating an account). Please note that applications will take up to 10 business days to process.

Tuition: Running Start covers the cost of tuition up to a maximum of 15 credits per quarter. Running Start will not cover the cost of classes that are below college level (number below 100.

Fees: Running Start students are required to pay the same mandatory fees as other college students. These fees include the General Fee, Student Technology Fee, ASSVC Self Assessed Building Fee and the Universal Technology Fee. Depending on the courses you choose to take, there may be specific course fees such as materials and/or lab fees.

Students who qualify for free or reduced meals in their School District are eligible to have their fees waived for up to fifteen credits they enroll in each quarter. It is the student's responsibility to provide SVC with a copy of the documentation from their High School or District which shows their eligibility for this waiver each year.

Other Costs: All college students are responsible for obtaining their own textbooks and supplies. You can find the required and recommended textbooks and supplies at The Cardinal Bookstore about a month before the quarter begins.

Here are some ways to acquire your textbooks:

• Purchase: Textbooks can be purchased from the Cardinal Bookstore or an online retailer.
• Rent: Textbooks can be rented from the Cardinal Bookstore or an online retailer; note that it takes time to get these, so allow up to 2 weeks before the quarter begins.
• Borrow: The SVC Library has many textbooks on reserve for use in the library.

Even with these costs considered, Running Start remains an excellent opportunity for students to save time and money as they pursue higher education!

Once you have applied to Skagit Valley College and you receive notification that your application has been received, you will receive an email to the email account you put on your application inviting you to sign into the SVC application portal to complete your SVC Application Supplement. This questionnaire will help us learn more about your goals.

When asked "What goal do you want to accomplish at Skagit Valley College?" you must choose "Enroll in Running Start." You will have the opportunity later in the supplement to designate if you are also seeking a degree.

Please note that you will not be able to move on to the next step of MySVC account creation until you complete and submit the application supplement and your transcript, has been reviewed. This review can take up to 5 working days. You will receive an email upon your acceptance to Skagit Valley College which will also include your next steps.

Once you complete the application supplement, you will be able to log back into the SVC Supplement Application Portal to view your completed steps and see what the next step is in your enrollment process.

After you complete the application supplement, and your transcript has been reviewed, an SVC email account will be created for you. Please note that it can take up to 1 hour from the time your transcript has been reviewed for your SVC account to process, so if you cannot set up your account right away please try again a few hours later. You will not have an SVC account created until you complete the application supplement (above).

You will receive an email with your Student ID number (SID) and your PIN number to set up your account.

All new students will be required to complete the Cardinal Pre-Flight Online Orientation. Once your MySVC account is set up, you will have access to this self-paced orientation to programs, resources, opportunities and next steps at SVC. Please note that it can take up to 1 hour from the time you set up your SVC account until you have access to Cardinal Pre-flight Online Orientation, so if you cannot access it right away please try again a few hours later.

The Cardinal Pre-Flight Online Orientation is hosted on the SVC Canvas site. It will take approximately 1 hour to complete and can be accessed from any computer, tablet or phone with internet access.

Use your username and password to your MySVC account. If you are accessing the online orientation from your phone, you may consider downloading the Canvas app.

In order to determine the best classes for you, your writing, reading, and mathematics skills will be assessed. There may be more than one way you can be placed into courses; review your options below.

Running Start Students must meet with their high school counselor (each quarter) to determine the number of credits they are eligible to have funded through the Running Start program and what high school graduation requirements they still need to fulfill. High School Counselors must complete the "Running Start Enrollment Verification Form." Running Start students need to be sure to get the form signed by both a parent and a high school counselor/representative. This must be done every quarter in order for the Running Start student to register for classes at SVC.

If the student is a Home School student, he or she must go to their local school district office or high school to get the "Running Start Enrollment Verification Form" signed every quarter. Home School students are also required to give SVC a copy of the "Intent to Home School" form which has been filed with the school district office (this form is required once each year, at the beginning of the school year).

Once you have determined your course placement, new students can register for a Cardinal Take-Off New Student Group Advising session. Here you will learn more about Skagit Valley College and register for your classes within the session.

After completing the steps above, you will be sent an email invitation to access the SVC Take-Off session options. It is important to complete the earlier steps in order to receive your email to attend Cardinal take-off new student group advising session. If you haven't completed the online orientation and established placement you will not receive your email. Once you have scheduled your session bring your “Running Start Enrollment Verification Form, which has been filled out and signed by both your High school counselor and parents to the Cardinal Take-off Advising Session. You will not be permitted to register for classes without this form.

Please note that your registration appointment is NOT your advising appointment. You must attend SVC Take-Off Group Advising before you may register for classes.