Homeschooling through high school, getting a diploma

Graduating from high school. Copyright PhotoXpress.

The curriculum choice for home schooled high school students makes a difference when it comes to college admissions. College admissions vary from school to school and it all comes down to several key items.

Graduation Requirements

Has the student completed the courses required by Arkansas? For kids graduating in May/June 2010 and later, Arkansas requires a total of 22 credits. This includes 16 required courses under the Arkansas Smart Core curriculum and 6 credits from a career curriculum. Graduation requirements will be discussed in detail in another article.

High School Diploma

Distance learning programs are expensive. High school curriculum is also expensive. There are many different approaches to educating a high school student at home. The first decision is curriculum choices. The decision is how to educate the high school child so that they are ready for college and so that colleges will accept all of the hard work everyone has put into schooling during the high school years.

Some colleges are going to require that the student has a diploma from an accredited high school or that they take the GED. Accredited distance learning programs and accredited umbrella schools that offer diplomas are expensive. Some families may be able to get the K12 high school curriculum for free. K12 high school through Lincoln ACE is actually a public school at home program. This may not appeal to all home school families. However, distance learning, umbrella schools and public school at home are all options for parents who do not feel their students need to take the GED. 

There is good news. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock works with homeschooling families. UALR does not require homeschoolers to take the GED. For more information on University of Arkansas, see Bill Riley's  UALR Examiner page .