Media Contact
Katy Payne she/her
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OLYMPIA—July 7, 2026—Civic engagement, financial literacy, a completed resume, applying to college, joining the military, registering to vote, researching financial aid—despite their importance, Washington’s graduating seniors do not have consistent access to these critical foundations for lifelong financial and educational success.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal has a proposal to close that gap: a senior year postsecondary launch course. A year-long course, taken by all graduating seniors, that is built with their next steps in mind.
“Students are graduating from the K–12 system without consistent access to the tools needed to support their independence,” Reykdal said. “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 resume, or how to register to vote. We can fix that.”
Superintendent Reykdal’s proposal would combine the existing semester-long civics requirement (0.5 credits) with another 0.5 credit in financial literacy and postsecondary readiness, giving Washington students the most successful and comprehensive postsecondary launch in the nation.
The course would be structured to ensure each topic is timely for students at that critical point in their senior year. For example, learning about financial aid in the fall, when students are applying and planning for college.
As part of the Postsecondary Launch Course, students would be required to complete their High School and Beyond Plan; build a resume; register or pre-register to vote; apply to a job, college, or the military; and apply for financial aid.
“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. “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.”
In June, Superintendent Reykdal shared his Postsecondary Launch Course proposal with the State Board of Education (SBE) for their consideration as they continue a project to update the state’s graduation requirements. The Board’s goal is to develop a proposal with updated requirements that support students’ individual postsecondary plans for consideration in the 2027 Legislative Session.
Currently, the Board is grappling with whether to remove some of the required credits in career and technical education, the arts, and health and physical education. Superintendent Reykdal provided feedback encouraging the Board to retain these critical learning opportunities for all students as part of the state’s graduation requirements.
The Superintendent also recommended that the Board adopt the Postsecondary Launch Course, as well as create greater expectations for quantitative reasoning courses during students’ senior year. The Board is expected to consider formally adopting their draft recommendations to the Legislature during their August meeting.
In the 2027 Legislative Session, Superintendent Reykdal will request that the Legislature adopt the Postsecondary Launch Course requirement as a part of any changes they make to graduation requirements.