Please forgive me if this is a commonly asked question, I am just unable to come across an answer from searching on the net. My oldest son, who is 14, has been asking about going to college... and with my wife and I unable to afford college tuition for our 3 sons, it leads me to my question. Are there grants available for Homeschool children, who do not attend an "accredited" school? I ask this because my wife and I have been unable to find out if there are any available. It seems to point to the student needing to attend some type of accredited school, sometime during that students' high-school education. I have to say... that strikes me as odd. Actually, I would like to say it strikes me as unfair, but laws being what they are at times... I would deal with what I have to, if it comes to that. Please, any assistance in pointing us in a direction would be great, not to mention it would alleviate some of the stress around our home. If it factors into the equation, we live in the state of Georgia, which is where he would like to attend college. Have a blessed day, -kmkarate
Are you a member of HSLDA? If so, ask them. But generally, a homeschool qualifies just as much as a public or private school. I would STRONGLY urge you to have him take the PSAT. With Rachael (who is finishing up her Freshman year in college tomorrow!), I thought PSAT was a PRACTICE test, and was just a way for the company to generate money. What I DIDN'T know, is that it is the SOLE qualifier for National Merit Scholarships. Many schools give BIG money for this, so it's worth it to take this test. Rachael's grants were given by the school, based on her SAT scores. She also has a scholarship of some kind, but she still had to take out a student loan (though not too big of one!).
Ms Jackie... Thank you for the response. We are not members of HSLDA, but it will be remedied shortly. I do truly appreciate that. What chaps my tush, is that there seems to be so many people out there, myself included, that have been kept in the dark about Homeschoolers getting financial assistance. Yesterday I called a local Christ centered College in our state, where the admissions officer(?) said that they do accept Homeschool children, and there are certainly Financial assistance, Scholarships as well as Grants available. What is odd, is that when speaking to a more "mainstream" College in our state... they were a little less receptive, needing more scores derived from an accredited school, and saying that assistance wasn't as "available." I just can not thank you enough for your guidance. Have a blessed day, -kmkarate
Then they simply don't know. I don't think there are many that are specific for "homeschool" kids, but we have the right to go out and try for any we qualify for. I will say, however, that last year when we were considering colleges, we visited a certain state university. My daughter, at that time, was taking classes at the Community College. One class was Calculus. This was important, since she's an Engineering major. My husband was concerned that the Community College's class wouldn't be comparable to the class at the University and she'd be "behind". He was discussing this with the head of the Engineering Department. The professor said it was a legitimate concern, and then asked Rachael where she attended high school. She said she'd been homeschooled. His attitude changed IMMEDIATELY. Up until then he had been nice and polite. When he heard "homeschool", his demeanor became more respectful somehow. He told her that she'd have "no problem, then." Basically, his attitude was that, IF a hs'ed kid was behind, they would do whatever needed to be done to catch up. They knew how to apply themselves to get the job done. It was AWESOME to hear that kind of confirmation from a non-homeschooler at a secular university!!! BTW, she is attending a state university (not that one, though!). And again, she did get grants/scholarships through them.
I'd definately look into a community college if you have one local. Here (I'm in FL), our local community college is very homeschool friendly. They allow dual enrollment a year earlier than public schools. They also have an early college program (I think it is considered a PS charter) where the kids can earn an AA degree at the same time as their HS Diploma. Debbie
Ours no longer allows dual enrollment, as of this year. They also required all high school juniors and seniors to pass the Ohio Graduation Test before enrolling, something homeschoolers are NOT required to take!!! But if I can't do dual enrollment, it's a waste of my money.
My dd is getting scholarship from the home school co op partnershipping with the U she wants to go with. 5 thousand a year helps on the way!
