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NEW MEXICO

Community college discrimination

For years, homeschoolers across the country have been successfully getting into colleges and universities, including the most elite institutions. During the 1990s, however, many colleges were afraid to accept homeschoolers because of implied threats in Department of Education materials that schools would lose their eligibility for federal funding if they did so. The Christian Association of Parent Educators of New Mexico (CAPE-NM)and Home School Legal Defense Association worked to prohibit such discrimination at New Mexico state schools. Despite this, San Juan College in Farmington has shut the door on homeschoolers.

In a policy that dates back almost 20 years, homeschoolers are welcome at

San Juan College as long as they have an accredited homeschool diploma. While it is technically possible for homeschoolers to earn an accredited diploma (several distance learning programs provide such certification), the overwhelming majority of homeschoolers graduate with an unaccredited diploma. Thus, the college's policy shuts out the vast majority of homeschool grads, in violation of state law.

San Juan College does allow homeschoolers to enter on a "provisional" basis, but they may only officially pursue and receive a degree if they are willing to take the General Education Development (GED) test. Anyone familiar with the GED knows that it does not even pretend to verify that a person really has mastered the equivalent of a high school education. To demand a GED from a homeschool graduate who has completed a full course of high school study is insulting.

San Juan College has kept this unlawful policy in place for years because no homeschooler has ever challenged it. Now the college is trying to defend the indefensible. Confronted with the plain text of state law, the college continues to discriminate against homeschoolers without GEDs. HSLDA and CAPE-NMwill continue to fight to bring San Juan College into the 21st century.