Go back to interview with Laurie & David

• Can a homeschooler make it to college?
• Do you need a diploma?
• Transcripts vs. Portfolios
• Financial Aid & Scholarships
• Homeschooling Graduates
• Alternative Paths to College
• Distance Education
• Scholarships, Grants & other FREE stuff

Joe:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. We will now move on to a very important topic by way of an excerpt from Laurie and David's book:

diploma: a document certifying the successful completion of a course of study. (Source: Word Net ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University)

A diploma is a piece of paper
(unless you use real sheepskin) that designates or confers the completion of some line of study. We find it interesting that parents who confidently homeschool turn to jelly when it is time to award the diploma. If you have homeschooled your child and he has completed your designated course of study for high school, you may and should award a diploma.

Frankly, we both hold those accredited and coveted New York State Board of Regents high school diplomas, and neither of us has had to show them to anyone, ever. We have been hired by employers and accepted into pretigious collges (MIT and the Air Force Academy) without ever being asked for them. What did matter were our transcripts and college board exam scores. The transcript is the official record of the student’s course work and grades. The transcript will be validated by college board exams and sometimes with a portfolio of completed work.

It is true that in the past most colleges required accredited diplomas. However, the current climate is quickly changing in favor of home school. Colleges and universities are beginning to recognize that homeschooled students are generally well prepared for higher learning, regardless of their lack of accredited education. There are now research studies that indicate the academic success of homeschooled students in institutions of higher learning.

In the past, some institutions required a GED
or state-accredited diploma for admission. The united States House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Education and Human Resources address these colleges and universities in a report accompanying Pub.L. No. 105-244 (Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act) with the following recommendation to those that accept federal funding:

The Committee is aware that many colleges and universities now require applicants from non-public, private, or nontraditional secondary programs (including homeschools) to submit scores from additional standardized tests…(GED or SAT-II) in lieuof transcript/diploma from an accredited school…Given that that standardized test scores (SAT and ACT) and portfolio-or performance-based assessments may also provide a sound basis for an admission decision regarding these students, the Committee recommends that colleges and universities consider using these assessments for aplicants educated in non-public, private and nontraditional programs rather than requiring them to undergo additional types of standardized testing. Requiring additional testing only of students educated in these settings could reasonably be seen as discriminatory…The Committee believes that college admissions should be determined on academic ability of the student and not the accreditation status of the school in which he or she received a secondary education.

(For more information, read "Homeschool Students Excel in College," published by the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, PO Box 3000, Purcellville, VA 20134; (540) 338-5600; www.hslda.org.)

Clearly our Congress recognizes the discriminatory practice of requiring homeschooled students to obtain a GED. Many homeschooling families find the GED requirements to be an insult to the fine education their children have received.

In another section if the amendments cited above, the committees changed the eligibility requirements for federal college aid. The law used to require an accredited high school diploma, GED, or a semester of college work to prove eligibility for aid. Now the requirement has been changed to include those students who have "completed a secondary school education in a home setting that is treated as a home school or private school under state law."

These advances in the recognition of the effectiveness of homeschooling are very promising. Two states already enacted legislation to restrict discrimination against homeschooled students; others are sure to follow. The military has also changed its policies about requiring GED for homeschooled students. For more information on the military and homeschooling, see Chapter 17.

Employers will accept a transcript
or a homeschool diploma.
Job applications will ususally ask what school the applicant attended and whether he graduated. The homeschool student should just write in "homeschool" and that he didgraduate.

Let’s face it:
When we decided to homeschool, we believed we were able to do a better job of educating our children. We believed we would do better than the government-sponsored schools, and better than private schools. (If you don’t believe this, don’t homeschool!) So why wouldn’t we believe that our homeschool diploma is better than a government diploma?

Homeschool coalitions in some states
(Pennsylvania for example) have worked with the state’s department of education to provide a program for homeschooled students to obtain a state-accredited diploma. This may be of interest to you. To be honest, we find these efforts counterproductive. We do not recognize the state as the ultimate authority in determining what constitutes a good education. Therefore, we do not feel the state-accredited diploma if of real value. The essence of homeschooling is that it is parent-directed. It follows then that it should be parent-accredited. Colleges, universities, financial aid programs, and potential employers are quickly realizing the value of the homeschool diploma, and the accreditation is quickly becoming a non-issue.