High School & Beyond FAQs

The High School and Beyond Plan is a state graduation requirement. Each student must have a High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP) to guide the student's high school experience and prepare the student for postsecondary education or training and career (RCW 28A.230.090 and WAC 180-51-220). A High School and Beyond Plan must be initiated for each student during the seventh grade with the administration of a career interest and skills inventory. Students continue to revise their plan throughout high school to accommodate changing interests or educational and career goals.

The High School and Beyond Plan may provide students with the opportunity to explore their own skills and interests and discover potential career and educational options. This personalized plan helps to connect career interests with courses and courses with career pathways. The plan helps students identify the steps needed to reach postsecondary goals. Students should be encouraged to take ownership over their high school experience and choose coursework and activities that are relevant to their goals. The High School and Beyond Plan also provides a means of tracking requirements for graduation from high school and entry into postsecondary programs and careers.

Whether a student's plan meets applicable requirements is determined at the district level (RCW 28A.230.090). A student's high school transcript must contain a notation as to whether the student met the High School and Beyond Plan requirement.

Over the past several years, the Washington Legislature has specified elements that all High School and Beyond Plans must contain. The required elements include the following:

  • an identification of career goals, aided by a skills and interest assessment;
  • an identification of educational goals;
  • a four-year plan for high school course-taking that fulfills state and local graduation requirements and aligns with the student's career, training, and educational goals;
  • options for satisfying state and local graduation requirements, taking into account academic acceleration (RCW 28A.320.195), dual credit courses, Career and Technical Education programs, and graduation pathway options;
  • evidence the student has received information on federal and state financial aid programs (including the College Bound Scholarship program) that pay for postsecondary programs;
  • The documentation necessary for completing state and federal financial aid applications; application timeliness and submission deadlines; and the importance of submitting applications early;
  • Information specific to students who are or have been the subject of a dependency proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW, who are or are at risk of being homeless, and whose family member or legal guardian will be required to provide financial and tax information necessary to complete applications;
  • Opportunities to participate in advising days and seminars that assist students and, when necessary, their parents or legal guardians, with filling out financial aid applications in accordance with RCW 28A.300.815;
  • and by the end of twelfth grade, a current resume or activity log that provides a written compilation of the student's education, any work experience, and any community service and how the school district recognized the community service.

In addition the High School and Beyond Plan must also:

  • be revised as necessary for changing interests, goals, and needs of the student.
  • be updated to inform junior year course taking.
  • identify available interventions and academic support, courses, or both, that enable students who have not met the high school graduation assessment standards to do so.
  • be advised for an 8th grade student who has not learned a Level 3 on middle school state assessment in math, the student must take a math course in both 9th and 10th grades.
  • for a student who takes a career and technical education (CTE) course that has been determined to be equivalent to an academic core course (a CTE course equivalency), include a record of a certificate of CTE course completion. The academic course is recorded on the students’ transcript and the record that the student completed a CTE course is part of the High School and Beyond Plan.
  • for students with an individualized education program (IEP), the HSBP must be updated in alignment with their school to postschool transition plan, and be updated in a similar manner and with similar school personnel as for all other students.

A High School and Beyond Plan must be initiated for each student during the seventh grade with the administration of a career interest and skills inventory.

No-cost career interest inventory tools include:

Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, each school district must ensure that an electronic high school and beyond plan platform is available to all students.

The state is working on making a universal High School and Beyond Plan platform available to all students. Check OSPI’s High School and Beyond webpage for more information.

School districts are responsible for creating processes and procedures for students to develop, revise and complete individualized High School and Beyond Plans that meet requirements. School districts may also establish additional, local requirements for High School and Beyond Plan that serve the needs and interests of the district's students and for other specified purposes.

To see the process broken down by middle school and high school grade levels, please see our High School and Beyond Plan page. OSPI also has resources and sample lesson plans available on their High School and Beyond Plan web page.

The student’s postsecondary goals, as articulated in their HSBP, should guide the student’s choice of graduation pathway option (WAC 180-51-230). School districts must provide students who have not met standard before the beginning of eleventh grade with the opportunity to access interventions and academic supports, courses, or both, designed to the enable students to meet the high school graduation standard. The interventions, supports, or courses must be rigorous and consistent with the student's educational and career goals identified in his or her High School and Beyond Plan, and may include Career and Technical Education equivalencies in English Language Arts or mathematics. In addition, school districts must update the High School and Beyond Plan for each student who has not earned a level 3 or 4 score on the middle school mathematics assessment by the ninth grade. The purpose of this update is to ensure that the student takes a mathematics course in the ninth and tenth grades. These courses may include Career and Technical Education equivalencies in mathematics.

Each student shall have a high school and beyond plan to guide his or her high school experience, including plans for post-secondary education or training and career. School districts are encouraged to involve parents and guardians in the process and development and updating the High School and Beyond Plan. The plan must be updated at least once a year, ideally with the involvement of the parents or guardians. Parents must be notified of the plan and opportunities to access interventions and academic student supports.

Per WAC 180-51-220:

  • The plan must be provided to the students’ parents or guardians in their native language if that language is one of the two most frequently spoken non-English languages of students in the district.
  • School districts are encouraged to involve parents and guardians in the process of developing and updating the High School and Beyond Plan.
  • The content of the third credit of mathematics and the content of the third credit of science must be chosen by the student based on the student's interest and high school and beyond plan with agreement of the student's parents or guardian or agreement of the school counselor or principal.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has resources about graduation requirements at http://www.k12.wa.us/GraduationRequirements/default.aspx. Career Guidance WA at http://www.k12.wa.us/SecondaryEducation/CareerCollegeReadiness/default.aspx has a series of guidance curriculum for grades 6-12 with templates and planning tools for developing a school-wide career and college readiness program. Templates for the High School and Beyond Plan are included.

See OSPI’s web page on Secondary Transition, Guidelines for Aligning High School and Beyond Plans and IEP Transition Plans.

If a student has completed a CTE course for equivalency credit, the certificate of completion of the CTE course must be included in the student's High School and Beyond Plan (RCW 28A.230.097). A CTE course equivalency is when a CTE course is recognized as equivalent to a core academic course. A student may earn a core academic credit and meet a core subject area graduation requirement and a CADR (College Academic Distribution Requirement, an admission requirement for state 4-year postsecondary institutions) upon completion of the class. The core academic credit is noted on the student transcript and the CTE course completion is included in the student's High School and Beyond Plan.

Local school districts determine how the High School and Beyond Plan is verified. High School and Beyond Plan completion must be noted on the student transcript as "Met"or "Not Met"under Additional State Requirements in the milestone section.

OSPI has templates for the HSBP available in different languages.

Ready Washington also has HSBP materials available for parents and students in Spanish.

The WSIPC HSBP tool is available in multiple languages.


Page last updated: June 2024