US Senate must act to ensure homeschoolers are eligible for student aid

When the U.S. Senate returns from recess on Nov. 9, senators will face an exhausting schedule as they look to close out the year. But there is one bill sitting on the Senate floor that can unite the Senate, just as it did the House of Representatives: the Home School Graduation Recognition Act.

The bill would make it clear that homeschooled high school graduates qualify for admission and federal student aid in colleges, universities, trade schools, and other institutions of higher learning that participate in federal student aid programs. It merely clarifies, once and for all, that homeschoolers who have graduated from homeschool programs operated in accordance with state law are indeed high school graduates.

This bill has unanimously passed the House of Representatives and the Senate Education Committee. There aren’t a lot of bills that bring Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together unanimously in this way, but this one has done so. And all that remains before it becomes law is passage by the full U.S. Senate.

The need to clarify that homeschool high school diplomas are legally equal to public or private school diplomas arises from a long history of baffling discrimination. As homeschooling became more popular in the 1980s and 1990s, there were many questions about whether homeschool high school graduates could access federal student aid and attend colleges and universities.

To protect homeschool high school graduates from unfair treatment, Congress took action to amend the Higher Education Act in 1998. This groundbreaking amendment, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, made it clear that homeschool high school graduates are eligible for federal student aid.

But there was a wrinkle: Homeschooling was still viewed with suspicion even in 1998, and so Congress placed the eligibility language for homeschool high school graduates under a heading intended for students “who are not high school graduates.” This header language has caused confusion for decades, even though the underlying law and guidance from the Department of Education make clear that homeschool high school graduates are indeed eligible for federal student aid.

We have seen instances where institutions of higher education refuse to accept homeschool high school graduates, denied them scholarships, demanded they take the GED, or even told them to leave partway through the school year. These incidents are often motivated by a fear that homeschool high school graduates are not technically high school graduates under federal law, and that accepting them could lead to an investigation by the US Department of Education. In the last fiscal year, my organization dealt with nearly 1,000 cases of discrimination against homeschooled students, many of them related to institutions of higher education.

The Home School Graduation Recognition Act simply changes the header in the Higher Education Act to new language about graduates “from non-traditional settings.” This simple change clarifies once and for all that homeschool graduates are high school graduates, deserving of the same treatment as graduates from public or private schools.

The Home School Graduation Recognition Act is a win-win. It benefits institutions of higher education amid declining enrollment. Colleges and universities, as well as trade schools, can safely accept homeschool high school graduates without fearing that the U.S. Department of Education will question their acceptance practices.

Second, and more importantly, it will benefit homeschool students. It will ensure that a homeschool student who works hard and graduates with a homeschool high school diploma can go to college without worrying about his or her diploma being unfairly scrutinized.

Homeschooling is growing by leaps and bounds among families as diverse as our nation. And homeschool students are well-prepared and will make strong contributions to the colleges and universities they attend.

We ask the U.S. Senate to act swiftly to pass the Home School Graduation Recognition Act.

Jim Mason is president of the Home School Legal Defense Association.