Out-of-District (OOD) Credit

Things to know before requesting approval

Students may take up to seven (7) out-of-district credits in total, of which up to three (3) credits may be used for grade improvement. It is the student's responsibility to track how many credits have been taken out-of-district.
Students are responsible for researching OOD course options and selecting an accredited provider. Search tool: OSPI Online Learning Course Catalog.
Students must apply for approval prior to starting an OOD course. If approved, the student is responsible for registering for the course through the OOD provider.
Eastlake does not partner or communicate with out-of-district providers. Students must work directly with the provider, and all course-related questions should be directed to the provider.
After completing the course, the student must request that the provider send an official transcript to their counselor. Transcripts are not automatically sent.

How to Request Approval for an OOD Course in Skyward:

Login to Skyward Student Access and locate the “Appendix C Request for Acceptance of OOD Credit” tile. Follow the steps to submit your application. Your counselor will review your request in Skyward (may take 5-7 days), and you will receive an automated email indicating whether your OOD course request has been approved or denied. Do not pay for or begin the online class until you have received approval. Click here for step by step directions.

How will the grades be added to the EHS transcript:

Initial Credit/First time taking a course: the grade will be added as a P
Grade Recovery: the letter grade will be added
Grade Improvement: the letter grade will be added, and the first attempt will not be calculated it the GPA.

guidelines & updates

Appropriate Requests

Appropriate situations when an out-of-district course may be requested:  

Grade Improvement: Student would like to retake a course out-of-district for grade improvement.
- The initial grade earned for the course will not be removed from the LWSD transcript. The initial earned credit will be zeroed out and only the new grade will be calculated into the GPA. Out-of-district courses taken for grade improvement must be the SAME course title, level, and semester as the original course taken (e.g. Biology vs. Honors Biology).
- Students may take a maximum of 3 credits out-of-district for grade improvement.
- Out-of-district courses identified as “credit recovery” are not appropriate for grade improvement.  
Course Advancement/Initial Credit: Student would like to take a course for the first time out-of-district to accelerate in a non-grade specific level subject area (Math, World Language).
- The LWSD transcript will reflect the course title and credit, but the grade earned will not be reflected in the student LWSD grade point average. Transcript will reflect a Pass or “P” grade.
- Out-of-district courses taken for advancement/acceleration will only be approved one at a time. Students may not take two out of district courses at the same time for acceleration. Please see the Math & Science Advancement warning and Registration Disclaimer.
Credit Recovery: Student would like to retake a course that they did not pass/earn credit in out-of-district.
- The LWSD transcript will reflect the course title and credit and the letter grade earned in the course.
Course cannot be taken at EHS because of a scheduling conflict, or the class is not offered.

Inappropriate Requests

Inappropriate situations when an out-of-district course will NOT be approved:  

The course fits into the student’s home high school schedule and is offered at their home high school.  
- High school student schedules prioritize and include core subject areas (English, Math, Science, Social Studies) and specific graduation requirements to keep the student on track for high school graduation and to align with their post high school plans.  
  - 2025-2026 EHS Course Catalog: LWSD Course Catalog
  - LWSD graduation credit requirements: High School Guide - Lake Washington School District 
Students may only accelerate in courses that do not have a particular grade level attached to the course sequence.
- For example, students are expected to take specific English and Social Studies courses each year of high school. Requesting to take these courses out-of-district is not appropriate.   
Students that would like to drop a class from their EHS schedule and instead take the class through an out-of-district provider.
- Students may not drop a class mid-year to take it through an out-of-district provider, per updated Appendix C guidelines.
- Students are required to be enrolled in a full-time schedule at EHS to access out of district credits (6/6 classes for grades 9-11, 5/6 classes for grade 12).

district guidance

Important Considerations

General Information

Year-long Commitment: Registration at EHS is a year-long commitment and students will not be allowed to switch classes because their grade doesn't meet their expectations. Additional online classes will not advance/change their schedule mid-year. Taking an out-of-district course during the school year would be in addition to the 6 EHS classes.

NCAA Requirements: If you plan to play a sport at a Division I or II college/university, it is your responsibility to check with the NCAA to see if the Out of District course you chose is approved. You can check here: eligibilitycenter.org.

Multiple out-of-district courses: If a student plans to take more than one course, they will need to submit the preapproval request form and Appendix C for each course.

Maximum out-of-district credits: Students are allowed to take up to 7.0 total credits outside of LWSD, with a maximum of 3.0 credits for grade improvement. Courses taken through the WANIC or Running Start programs do not count against this credit maximum.

EHS Registration Disclaimer

During course registration for the next/upcoming school year, students MUST register for the next course in the sequence, even if they plan to take an out-of-district course for advancement. After we receive the out-of-district transcript in August, the student’s schedule/placement will be adjusted if space allows. Please note that course requests are not guaranteed.

Math & Science Advancement Warning

The EHS Math and Science departments strongly recommend that students take math and science courses at Eastlake to prepare them for upper-level classes. Course work and sequences are designed to prepare students for the rigor and pace of advanced courses, and taking an online math or science course will not fully prepare you for the following course. Online math and science courses do not fully align their standards to the standards covered in LWSD, do not reach the same level of depth of concepts, and often do not prepare students with the appropriate expectations. This causes students to have gaps in their conceptual understanding.

Math department recommendations: Recommended Math Pathway

Science department recommendations: Recommended Science Pathway

College Messaging

How do colleges view OOD & online courses?

Colleges may evaluate online courses differently from traditional in-person classes, depending on the program's reputation and accreditation. It's important to research whether such coursework is recognized equally in admissions. Generally, universities do not expect students to retake classes just to improve a grade—especially if the original grade was a B or higher. However, retaking a course may be advisable if the student earned a C or lower, as it shows commitment to mastering the material. Overall, rather than focusing solely on GPA perfection, students are encouraged to pursue activities that are meaningful and promote personal growth.

How do colleges view P grades?

While most colleges accept Pass (P) grades, they generally prefer students to complete core courses at their home high school and receive letter grades when possible. P grades in core academic subjects may raise questions during the college admissions process. We recommend checking directly with individual colleges for their specific policies and preferences. Students can submit out-of-district (OOD) transcripts (that reflect the letter grade earned) separately as part of college applications.

College Response to the P grade

To help you understand how colleges interpret the P grades from out of district credits, our college and career specialist reached out to several colleges about our policy. This is what they wanted students to know for college applications:

University of Michigan:

“We would need their official transcripts from whatever online/other institution with a letter grade so we can see that they passed the course they took elsewhere
[Having both transcripts], the P would have context on their main transcript.”

UC-Irvine:

“Colleges would appreciate the insight and rational [for taking the course].
For our campus anytime a grade doesn’t match (on transcripts or on the UC application) we send that file onto a secondary review to assess potential falsification. We’d be more concerned about grades not matching than a P grade.
For the UCs, we would appreciate a short note from the student in the additional comments box on the UC Application. In it, students should let us know the district policy and that they are being truthful in their reporting. Keep in mind that the UCs do not accept transcripts as part of the application process, so all we will have at this point is what the student has reported.”

UW-Seattle:

We ask students to give us the courses, grades, and credits as they appear on each of their transcripts from all the different institutions attended.
In your example, we'd want the student to report the grades and credits earned from Eastlake based on Eastlake's transcript and all the grades and credits earned from the outside credit provider as they appear on the provider’s transcript.
We don't want [students to list] Eastlake's translation of outside credits, [so they should only address that class in the section where they list the other provider’s coursework]. That is why when students who moved from other countries apply to the UW, we ask them to send us their original high school transcripts from those schools abroad.”

University of Colorado:

It’s not unusual for schools to reflect “outside work” as strictly P grades, for example when students transfer in from other high schools.
If a student has 1-2 P grades on their transcripts, we typically do NOT require the second transcript or recalculate the GPA. However, we can if a student asks for a recalculation if the recalculation could impact qualification for competitive majors or scholarships. If a student has a semester’s worth or more of P grades, then we WILL require the outside transcript and recalculate those grades into a cumulative GPA for the student. The outside provider transcript will be considered alongside the home institution transcript to evaluate rigor, trends in grades, etc. the same way we review the home institution transcript. Our review will overlook the P grades and instead look at the outside credit transcript.
In general, I would recommend students submit both transcripts together or around the same time so they can be processed together. If we are missing a transcript their application will show pending until we receive those materials. A P grade on the EHS transcript should not impact a student’s application negatively unless they received a C or below in the outside provider class.