Web Extra: Homeschool Admission Policy Update

Homeschool advocates believe a letter issued by the U.S. Department of Education in late November 2002 finally clarifies the issue of homeschool students age 18 or younger not meeting the state's compulsory age requirement. The concern for colleges is that if any student who does not meet the state's age requirement is admitted, the institution is at risk of losing federal financial aid, as specified by language in the 1998 Higher Education Act, due to expire at the end of 2003.

Co-drafted by Chris Klicka, senior counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association, and Jeffery Andrade, deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Postsecondary Education, the letter states: "An institution can admit most homeschooled students as regular students without jeopardizing its eligibility to participate in the Title IV, Higher Education Act student financial assistance programs. The Department considers that a homeschooled student is beyond the age of compulsory school attendance if the state in which the institution is located does not consider the student truant once he or she has completed a homeschool program."

Further complicating the compulsory age requirement is language in the 2002-2003 Federal Student Aid Handbook, a guide to help college financial aid and admission officers interpret law. While amenable to homeschool students, the handbook states that admitted students must: have a high school diploma; have a recognized equivalent, as defined by regulations, of a high school diploma; or be beyond age of compulsory school attendance in the state in which the institution is located.

Points of contention revolve around what officially constitutes the equivalency of a high school diploma and accountability thereof and the wide range of compulsory age requirements among states -- both issues that are within the purview of each state to define.

While Baylor continues to work closely with each underage homeschooled applicant, the Department of Education letter does not provide a definitive answer, says Charles Beckenhauer, associate general counsel for Baylor. "The ED letter clarifies that homeschool completion is neither a high school diploma nor the equivalent as a matter of federal law. As a result, neither the federal government, nor most states, considers completion of homeschool as equivalent to a high school diploma. Therefore, a homeschooler must normally be beyond the age of compulsory attendance in the state of Texas," he said. The Texas statute provides that the age of compulsory attendance is 18, unless the child is 17 with a high school diploma or GED, he added. In light of these later developments, Beckenhauer communicated in late January with the Texas Education Agency seeking a definitive response to the issues in question. Based on the TEA response, Beckenhauer says, "It looks like Texas considers anyone 17 or older, who has completed a bona fide secondary education, to be beyond the age of compulsory attendance. As a result, Baylor will treat those persons in that category as meeting the requirements of institutional eligibility (beyond the age of compulsory attendance)."

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