The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) is a Washington state agency that oversees and coordinates between the 34 members of Washington's public community and technical college system. [1] Governed by a nine-member board appointed by the state governor, [2] the system consists of the accredited colleges and their branch campuses, [3] which all offer two-year associate's degrees, with select colleges offering four-year bachelor's degrees. [4]
A system of community colleges in Washington was first established by the Community College Act of 1967, [5] which created 22 community college districts to be governed by a statewide board. [6] The current agency, along with administering the Community and Technical College Act, [7] provides the member colleges with budgetary coordination and inter-college information technology services. [8] [9] The board also coordinates, along with the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, the development of workforce training and other vocational education opportunities. [10]
There are 34 community and technical colleges within the SBCTC system, [11] serving 30 college districts. [12]
SBCTC offers multiple dual credit programs for students in Washington to earn college credit while still enrolled in high school. [13]
CTE Dual Credit, formerly known as Tech Prep, is a dual credit program in which students take career and technical education coursework at their high school and receive college credit from a community or technical college, on top of their high school credit, for the course. Colleges offering CTE Dual Credit partnerships are organized into consortia, although students may be able to register for CTE Dual Credit courses through colleges outside of their regional consortium. Similar to college in the high school programs, which some Washington state colleges also offer, credit is awarded by both the high school and a college for coursework taken at the high school. [14]
Running Start is a dual credit program offered by the 34 SBCTC colleges as well as three public universities and two tribal colleges in Washington. Students in Running Start take courses at a college to receive transferable college credit and fulfill high school graduation requirements simultaneously. [15]