Do I Need to Use an Accredited Homeschool Program?
With the slow but steady growth of homeschooling across the United States comes a parallel growth in online, distance learning programs and schools. While many parents continue to provide independent, customized instruction to their children, others seek “enrolled homeschooling”—that which provides teacher-guided instruction, report cards/transcripts/credits, and other familiar elements of traditional education.
Choosing a provider for this type of schooling naturally leads to an increase in questions about accreditation: what is it exactly, and how does it pertain to homeschooling?
Accreditation in Brief
Briefly, accreditation of schools in the US means that an outside agency has reviewed a school based on a given set of standards, and certified that the school meets or exceeds those standards. This is not a one-time action, but requires periodic review and renewal in order to maintain this “seal of approval.”
Over one hundred years ago, the accreditation process was created to help high schools across the country standardize some courses and graduation requirements for college preparedness. Six regional agencies were set up for this purpose, and over time they expanded to include all levels of education: primary (K-8), secondary (9-12) and tertiary (college and university).
Some states continue to use regional accreditation through a consolidated group called AdvanceEd; others use their own state department of education to evaluate their K-12 public schools. Over time, this voluntary process became desirable, since it was seen as a way to build and maintain a credible reputation. This led to vocational programs – nursing, cosmetology, industrial, etc – wanting a similar system for quality assurance, and today there are about a dozen national accreditors based on specialty.
With the rise of online, distance learning programs for all grade levels comes a relatively new cottage industry of unofficial accrediting agencies. Shockingly, there are over 50 accrediting agencies of dubious nature in the US alone, designed primarily to support so-called “diploma mills.”
How Does Accreditation Relate to Homeschooling?
In a nutshell: Homeschool accreditation is not required.
No state requires that a homeschool program, curriculum, or diploma be accredited (in fact, homeschool curriculum can't be accredited!). Most institutions of higher learning do not require this either, although there may be exceptions by individual institutions or programs; and of course schools may change their requirements at any time.
Many families come to homeschooling from the public school system. As a result, they are asking questions based on a public school frame of reference, such as “How do I find an accredited homeschool program?” A better question to ask is, “Do I need to use an accredited homeschool program?” The answer is generally no.
Why Might a Homeschooler Want to use an Accredited Homeschool Program?
- The number of distance learning programs for all grade levels has grown so great that it’s hard to know how to choose. So while accreditation does not guarantee quality, it does provide assurance that there is oversight and adherence to standards. Some parents receive peace of mind knowing that they’ve invested in a program that has been reviewed and approved by an accrediting agency.
- If there is a likelihood that your student will return to public high school, then the transfer of recognized course credit becomes an important matter. Your state may have a list of recognized distance learning providers; any coursework completed with one on the list should transfer easily to public school.
- If your high schooler intends to pursue NCAA sports in college, more extensive documentation becomes necessary, and some families may find it easier to use an online or virtual school (which may or may not be accredited) and be evaluated as a nontraditional program rather than a homeschool program. Be sure to go directly to the source for updated information on NCAA requirements: http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/home-school-students
What’s missing from this very short list? Acceptance to community colleges, trade schools, the military, employment, and colleges/universities generally.
In years past, this was not always the case. For example, up until 2012, a high schooler interested in joining the military upon graduation would have been advised to earn an accredited diploma, since it was more readily accepted by military recruiters than parent-issued diplomas. New policies went into effect in 2012 that recognize the parent-issued diploma as the standard for enlistment in all branches of service.
Likewise, many vocational schools unfamiliar with homeschool laws have sometimes denied enrollment to a homeschooled student who does not hold an accredited diploma or a GED. These cases are usually based on erroneous assumptions, not on fact; and while frustrating to deal with, are usually resolved in favor of the homeschooled student based on state law.
Regarding employment: a prospective employer may ask if a distance learning program is accredited, and may see it favorably since it rules out the possibility of it being a “diploma mill”, but again, there is nothing in state or federal law that requires such accreditation.
Lastly, regarding colleges/universities: over the past several decades, it has actually been easier for a homeschooled graduate to gain acceptance to these than to vocational schools or military enlistment. In part, the latter two have dealt more with applicants who did not complete high school. Colleges/universities have a wide array of factors to evaluate for student admission: coursework, standardized test scores, letters of reference, written essays, personal interview, etc.; thus having an accredited diploma was not required.
How do I Find an Accredited Homeschool Program?
With the rise of online, distance learning programs for all grade levels comes a cottage industry of unofficial accrediting agencies. Make sure that the accreditation you see for a particular online school comes from a legitimate agency. The best choice is the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), which up until 2015 was known as the Distance Education & Training Council (DETC). https://www.deac.org/ Enter the name of a program you’re considering, or search the entire list. This will also help you to avoid the 50-plus dubious accrediting agencies and all the online schools they promote, thus saving your time and sanity.
Accreditation for homeschoolers applies mostly to those in very specific situations like potentially returning to public high school, and even that is only in certain localities. For the rest, accreditation is a nice-to-have, not a must-have.
Karen Skelton homeschooled her two children through high school and served for many years as a state leader with the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers. She has taught US history in a homeschooling co-op and is a freelance genealogist. She and her husband, Robert, live in Greensboro, North Carolina, where Robert is pursuing a PhD in US. History. Their children embraced the concept of “the world as their classroom” and are currently exploring new paths in Oregon and Australia – because the learning adventures never end.
Hi, i’m Ally!! I’m abt to turn 18 and i’ve been homeschooled all my life. I’ve always moved a lot, and there was a lot of constantly stopping and resuming, and always switching courses, and while most were accredited, we don’t have records of a lot. I’m wanting to go to high school for my senior year, and just finish but they want a transcript from an accredited homeschool, and because we don’t have records i’m not sure how to go abt it. I’m also 2-3yrs behind, so i’ve been trying to catch up to graduate but it’s not really happening very fast and i really hope to graduate this year. and i really wanted to attend public school. any advice?
Hi Ally,
Accreditation is not typically the only thing public schools look for when evaluating homeschool learning for credit acceptance during high school. In fact, many public high schools do not accept most accredited homeschool programs either, unless the programs were actually "public school at home" offered by the school division rather than independently. Often, the accrediting agencies that do accredit online private schools, for example, are not agencies the schools accept.
That said, I hear you saying that they want a transcript from an accredited homeschool.
If attending an accredited homeschool program is not part of the law in the states where you have homeschooled (off the top of my head I don't know any states that require this, though I don't know all the states), you would have no reason to have used accredited homeschool. But the school divisions often don't know the homeschool law and don't match their requirements to the law—and they don't have to.
My recommendation would be to make a transcript as best you can, reflecting your high school learning, with help from your parents. On the transcript, make the statement that you were homeschooled in accordance with the requirements of your state(s), if you were, and have your parent sign it. Then approach the guidance counselor at the school you hope to attend with your transcript and questions about what else you can do to meet requirements to graduate. Sometimes they will let you test out of certain credits or take extra classes independently to do some credit recovery.
You sort of have a few things going against you here. If you really are 2-3 years behind, the school is not going to want to give you credit for learning that did not take place, with or without a transcript. The other problem is that public high schools really do not have to give credit for learning done while homeschooling, regardless of accreditation. See my article on Transferring homeschool credits to public high school for further explanation.
The article will explain why homeschool coaches typically recommend students plan to homeschool all four years of high school or enroll in public high school by 9th grade; otherwise they end up with the dilemma you are currently having.
The article will also give you ideas for approaching the school and alternatives if the school does not accept credits once you document them.
You can use our homeschool transcript template to create a transcript.
Good luck!
Jeanne
Shalom, how are you? I'm Marilyn from Missouri and we're looking to homeschool a 7yr old 2nd grader but we can do without communication with teachers, students, etc because we can surely accomplish teaching her ourselves, but the thing is, we're having problems finding the proper curriculum for our student. Is there anything you can suggest?
Hi Marilyn,
Take a look at our article, How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum. You definitely can homeschool on your own, and this article should help you think through your options.
Looking forward,
Jeanne
Hello. My name is Tykeisha and I am new to the homeschooling world. I am withdrawing my children(which I have 3) From public school and wanting to homeschool them instead. I spoke to the superintendent who told me to make sure that whatever program or curriculum I use is accredited. I'm confused because if I order textbooks and everything for my children and I'm teaching them, will that be considered accredited with the material we use? If not, how am I supposed to do accredited learning material without putting them in some kind of program like k12 and such? Please help us! Thanks in advance.
Hi Tykeisha - A couple of different issues are at play here. The first is the homeschooling regulations in your state: homeschooling is regulated by the state, so each state has different rules and requirements. There is no substitute for reading and understanding the statute for yourself.
For help understanding your state's statute, the homeschool organization in your state is the place to turn. State organizations are usually the best-positioned to offer the most accurate interpretation of the law, which is why we always defer to them for legalities. Knowing the law—and if there are multiple filing options, which one you filed under—is the first step in making sure you are following the law.
The second issue is accreditation. Your superintendent may have just been making a suggestion based on what schools are required to do; many school officials are not familiar with homeschooling and do not realize that in most situations, homeschoolers are free to use whatever resources they choose. If the option and state under which you are homeschooling does require an accredited program, you will need to search one out. Curriculum itself cannot be accredited, so if you are teaching your children it would not be an accredited program. Institutions are accredited (or not), not curriculum. Our post "Is Your Curriculum Accredited? Does It Matter?" details more about accreditation.
As long as you are meeting the requirements of the law, that is all you need to do. Misinformed or under-informed individuals sometimes ask for more than the law allows; if that is the case, you can ask them (politely) to please show you in the law where what they are asking for is required.
Hello. For the last year we decided that my two daughters would try homeschool and I’ve loved it.
We were receiving help from a friend to get their accreditation through their transcripts but she fell ill and hasn’t been able to tell me where and how can I present this transcripts to get their accreditation for this last year and I would like to register them in an online full time diploma for 2021-2022.
Any help of how could I accredited this transcriptions, would be deeply appreciated.
Hi Leonor - As mentioned in the article, only institutions can be accredited. Curriculum and transcripts cannot be accredited. You should talk to the institution where you plan to enroll them for 2021-2022 to see what they would require to transfer the existing credits in. It would be up to them as to whether they will accept them or not if they were not earned through an accredited institution.
Hi, I'm glad I found this site.
I homeschooled, in 4 different states, and for 10 years.
When I enrolled my oldest child into high-school there was no problem with the school excepting my daughters transcripts from home.
We have done public school for 5 years, then last year we returned to homeschool. I am well versed in the state homeschool laws, and have followed it to the letter.
However I have re enrolled my kids for fall. The elementary and middle schools are being great. The high-school however is not taking any of their credits because I did not do an accredited program.
I have only talked to the registrar, and it is apparent that she doesn't know any homeschool laws and regulations, I have already excelled the emails and conversation and I can easily show her the homeschool laws etc. But knowing her (I've dealt with her before) she will be extremely stubborn, last time I have to cc the principal to get her to do her job.
Anyway, what path would you take, or what site would your source if you were dealing with this.
Also, how high up would you start? Principal, superintendent?
Thanks for any assistance
Hi Deb - As we discuss elsewhere on the site (see "When Your Child Goes from Homeschooling to Public School"), homeschooling high school has implications if your child plans to return to public (or private) school. It is up to the school to decide whether to accept any credits earned while homeschooling. Every state is different, and some states (or even school districts) are more flexible than others. If you have not asked if your student can show her knowledge of the courses via whatever testing system the school system uses, that would be a good thing to request. If there are relevant sections of your state's homeschooling statute, that would be helpful to cite, but it's unlikely to state that a school must accept credits.
Hi, I “Graduated” from being homeschooled in 2016, but I do not believe my mom sent it to the city to be accredited for. Is there any way to find out or would you happen to know what I would need to do to have that done?
Hi Tia - Your local school administrator has nothing to do with homeschool accreditation. Programs are accredited, not curriculum and not homeschools. If you were homeschooled through an accredited program, you would need to reach out to the administrators of that program for your transcripts. For most families this is not the case. For most homeschool families, the homeschool parents are the ones that create the transcripts for their students. Those transcripts do not need to be approved or endorsed by a local school district and are simply sent from the school administrator (IE the parent) to the requesting organization.
I would like to know what to do as far as a transcript is concerned if my student was 2.5 years in a public high school. then 1.5 years home schooled? With COVID, we are moving from public school to home school.
Thoughts? Do we make 1 transcript and note where the courses were taken? And also ask for a copy of the public school's transcript as a supplement?
Hi Susan,
The best thing to do would be to check with the school(s) to which the student will be applying and ask what they would like to see. They may want to see both transcripts just to confirm that what is listed on the homeschool transcript matches the public school transcript.
Typically if credits are transferred from one public school to another, they show on the transcripts of the school from which the student is graduating as transfer credits without grades (and would not be factored into the GPA), but I think colleges would expect to see the official transcripts from all schools attended.
Homeschoolers have the flexibility to include the grades of "transfer credits" in the GPA calculation if they wish—that is a decision that is up to the school issuing the diploma.
I hope this helps.
Good Morning Mary,
Thank you for this article. As a brand new homeschooling mom this really helped. My question is if for whatever reason we decide to transition back into public/charter school and they ask for transcripts how do I go about making sure that my kids are placed in their correct grade. I have had some friends that went from homeschooling to public/charter and they made their kids repeat a grade. Should I hire a company to complete transcripts or would my own transcripts suffice. I do plan on having a certified teacher evaluate my kids at the end of the year. My kids will be in 2nd and 4th and we live in Florida. Any helpful tips would be so appreciated.
Thank you,
Anell Robbins
Hi Anell - I'm sorry that I missed your comment in July (I was in the middle of a move and things were crazy). Jeanne wrote an entire post about the intricacies of homeschoolers returning to public school that you may find helpful. In short, there is nothing you can do to guarantee that the school will accept the work the students did while homeschooling. There may be things you can do to improve the chances that they will (an evaluation will certainly be beneficial if the report is a good one), but schools are in charge of schools and are free to make their own decisions about incoming students. In my experience, this is less of an issue for elementary grades than in high school. My daughter did one year in public school for 5th grade and they did not even question putting her in the appropriate grade based on the work she had done (this was in Virginia). Every state—and sometimes every school district and even school—is different.
Bravo! I've tried, almost in vain, to explain this to homeschool families for years. You did an excellent job in this article.
Thanks for the feedback, William. We appreciate Karen's work on this piece. 😊
Hello,
Does accreditation only matter for high school? I want to start homeschooling my 2nd grader but I cannot tell if it matters before high school.
Hi Amy - Accreditation absolutely doesn't matter for 2nd grade. As Karen mentions in the post, there are only certain circumstances in which in matters for high school. Best wishes on your homeschool journey!
If a homeschool organization wanted to be accredited, is there an agency that does that? I can't find anything on where to go for that.
I'm not aware of any accreditation that exists for homeschool organizations. If your organization has a private school or is considering operating a private school, you would need to research accrediting agencies for private schools.
Typically, curriculum and organizations are not accredited; public and private schools are eligible for accreditation. Accrediting agencies vary and may be specific to Christian schools, online schools, private schools, or public schools. Some accrediting agencies, such as the Regionals, are considered the gold standard for certain kinds of schools. Some accrediting agencies are themselves of questionable reputation. Accreditation can be a mixed bag, even though some parents don't understand this and may see accreditation as a "seal of approval."
Jeanne
I want to thank you for all of this information. It is my first year homeschooling my two girls and I've worried about accredidation as well. Even though I'm teaching 8th and 6th grade, we know at least my oldest wants to go to college. I didn't want to hurt her chances by not using an accedited curriculum. I use all curriculum except English which I want to use a website for. myepassignments. This site has an entire curriculum, but we have already been working through our purchased books for this year. We didn't like the English and I looked elsewhere and came upon the easy peasy homeschool website. I believe it is more in depth than they would get in the school setting. As long as I keep records, will I need anything else to prove the learning online? This is the only online course I use. The other courses are through text books with online assistance to help with the lessons if needed.
Robyn, colleges have accepted thousands of homeschool students who do not use accredited programs. It's just not an issue. (And keep in mind that many public high schools are not accredited but have graduates who go on to college, too).
What you do want is a transcript that shows credits for work done at home and outside evidence that your child is prepared for college work. Students seeking admission at age 18 right after high school (without community college) will probably need SAT or ACT scores, though this changing at many colleges. Students who transfer from community college may or may not need those test scores, sometimes even depending on the specific major or "school" within a college or university. Individual colleges can set their own standards for homeschoolers, and some have additional requirements for them, such as SAT II subject area tests or course descriptions to go with (or as part of) the transcript. I suggest you check some potential college websites to give you some ideas, maybe institutions that are public, private, in-state, and out-of-state. Search for homeschool admission. Many colleges also have a designated admissions representative who works just with homeschoolers, and you can direct your questions to them. There is no substitute for finding out directly from the colleges what they require. That said, it's almost never accredited classes. You can choose whatever curriculum or method of learning that you want, and homeschoolers using all approaches to education have gone on to college.
Your girls are fortunate to have you thinking ahead on their behalf.
Looking forward,
Jeanne
Thank you. One quick question about the site. The students next lesson suddenly went back to one and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get back to lesson 8. Help?
Thank you
If your talking about easy peasy, go to parent settings and you can change the day.
Hi Robyn,
We can't provide support for other websites, but hopefully they will be responsive if you contact them through their contact options.
All the best,
Mary Ann
Hi, My name is Dawn. My son and reside in Colorado. Upon looking up the CO Homeschool laws, I read this :
Homeschooling falls under non-public education and is not accredited by the Colorado Department of Education or a local school district -
Will you please help me make sense of that information?
Also per CO HS Laws, I have to file intend to HS days prior to starting. What happens if I file and do not wait the fourteen days?
Thank you for time,
Dawn
Dawn, If you find this information, would you share?
I am in the same boat in Colorado. It has not been easy to find the correct information.
Dawn, we do not provide interpretations of state laws, since legal requirements to homeschool are different in all fifty states. Please contact your local and state homeschool support organization for state-specific information.
Typically, statements about accreditation are intended to be a type of "full disclosure" from school divisions and state departments of education. That's so that parents don't think that just because they are letting education officials know about homeschooling, their homeschooling is some kind of officially endorsed education. Ask homeschool advocates in your state to be clear.
Jeanne
Hi, my name is Robert, our son recently decided after attending our local high school for 4 weeks, he wanted to be homeschooled. We only had the weekend to get all necessary paperwork together and into the school by Monday, so we decided to go with Penn Foster Online High School. My question is, after joining because of recommendation by other parents in our local area, we have now found after doing research there is a short list of colleges who will accept this as a high-school diploma. Mary Washington University is the college our son wishes to attend, but it is not on the list. What do we do now that we've already joined and started paying for this program in order to show this college or any college our son has a high school diploma? Thank you, Robert.
Hi Robert - It sounds like you have worked hard to make sure that your son has the best opportunities available to him. Like most parents unfamiliar with how homeschooling is dealt with in college admissions, you may not be aware that most colleges, UMW among them, do not require a diploma from a physical or online school from their homeschooled applicants. The student is evaluated as a graduate of a homeschool, not of an institution.
Parents are the administrators in a homeschool, and students do not need to be limited to online schools or colleges that accept diplomas from those schools. The beauty of homeschooling is in its flexibility, and colleges recognize that. Homeschoolers who have never enrolled in any kind of distance learning program are accepted into colleges every year using parent-created homeschool transcripts. You may find the following posts on TheHomeSchoolMom helpful in understanding the relationship between homeschooling and college admissions:
College Admission Requirements for Homeschoolers
How to Create Homeschool Transcripts
Outside Evidence and College Admissions
Homeschooling High School
UMW has an admissions officer who deals almost exclusively with homeschoolers; you can find her contact information here. If you have any questions after reading through the information I linked above, I recommend reaching out to her to see what UMW likes to see from homeschoolers and incorporate that into your plans for your son's high school courses and activities.
Best wishes to you and your son as he homeschools high school.