State Superintendent Proposes Statewide Course for Seniors

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal has proposed an initiative he says will help young Washingtonians take life’s next big steps: a year-long, postsecondary launch course that would be taken by all graduating high-school seniors.

“Students are graduating from the K–12 system without consistent access to the tools needed to support their independence,” Reykdal said in a release. “Young people are taking on loans and credit-card debt without knowledge of the implications. They don’t always know what to add to their résumé, or how to register to vote. We can fix that.”

The Postsecondary Launch Course would merge the preexisting semester-long civics requirement with an additional half-credit course in financial literacy and postsecondary readiness. Structurally, each topic would come up in the course at the appropriate time, such as learning about financial aid while seniors are planning and applying for colleges.

Additionally, students would be required to complete a High School and Beyond Plan.

“In recent years, our state has seen a variety of proposed additions to graduation requirements, and my team and I have worked with stakeholders to understand and consider all of them,” Reykdal said in the release. “The Senior Year Postsecondary Launch Course is a compilation of changes that we believe will truly improve outcomes without limiting students’ flexibility to take the courses that align with their postsecondary goals.”

Last month, Reykdal shared his proposal with the State Board of Education for consideration as it continues work on a project to update state graduation requirements. The board’s overall goal is to develop a proposal for the 2027 Legislative Session with updated requirements in order to support students’ individual postsecondary plans. In that same session, Reykdal intends to request that the Legislature adopt the Postsecondary Launch Course proposal as part of changes made to graduation requirements.