«		LEGAL/LEGISLATIVE UPDATES		»
ACROSS THE STATES

NEW MEXICO

UNM welcomes homeschoolers

One of Home School Legal Defense Association's goals for homeschool freedom is to make sure no homeschool graduate is forced to take the GED, a test designed for public school dropouts. Although HSLDA has worked hard to convince colleges that homeschool graduates are well qualified for admission without taking the GED, we continue to receive reports that some colleges still require it.

While investigating two such reports about the University of New Mexico, however, HSLDA discovered that UNM's policy was even better than we had hoped for: homeschoolers are not required to produce a GED for either admissions or most financial aid.

UNM Supervisor of Freshman Admissions Tracy Hart was upset to hear that homeschoolers were being given the wrong information, and was more than happy to clarify university policy. She went on to emphasize UNM's openness to homeschooled students. "One of my ongoing goals in this position is to get admissions and related information out to the homeschool community," she said.

This is just one case where an institution of higher learning has realized the great benefits it can reap by admitting homeschoolers on the same basis as other high school graduates.

— by Scott W. Somerville