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NEW YORK

College breakthrough

In September 2004, Home School Legal Defense Association, Loving Education at Home (LEAH), and thousands of homeschool families in New York got a hard-earned breakthrough in college admissions!

For the last two years, homeschool students have faced discrimination when applying for admission to or attempting to graduate from New York state colleges and universities. A memo from the state education department had revived a dormant state board of regents rule that required all college students to have a recognized high school diploma. In many cases this meant that homeschoolers were required to take the general educational development test, an exam designed for high school dropouts.

After receiving thousands of calls and letters in opposition to this rule, the board of regents amended it to remove the discriminatory barriers, providing different options allowing homeschoolers to demonstrate satisfactory evidence of their preliminary (high school) education.

Once homeschoolers enter college, they can meet one of several options to graduate from college including: 1) completing the substantial equivalent of a four-year high school course, as certified by the superintendent or other school district official; 2) completing 18 semester hours or the equivalent (such as CLEP credit) in specific subjects (which are required for nearly all students anyway) and six more credits in the student's major; or 3) passing the New York State Regents Exams in English, Mathematics, United States History and Government, Science, and Global History and Geography.

HSLDA is currently assisting the New York State Department of Education in drafting guidelines for implementation of the amended rule. For more information, see "Breakthrough for Homeschoolers Seeking Admission to New York Colleges!".

— by Thomas J. Schmidt