Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Will homeschooling limit my child's chances to participate in college athletics? Tune in today as Michael Farris discusses NCAA rules for homeschooled athletes on this edition of Home School Heartbeat.

Mike Farris:
In 1993, I first needed to deal with the NCAA on behalf of college athlete Jason Taylor. Jason, who had been homeschooled in Pennsylvania, was given a scholarship to play football at the University of Akron. The NCAA disallowed his scholarship merely because he had been homeschooled. After we threatened to sue the NCAA, they backed off and eventually came up with standards for homeschool athletes.


The NCAA requires high school students to pass a core curriculum of 14 courses to become eligible to practice and compete in their Division I and II member schools.


A student's SAT or ACT score in combination with their grades is used to determine eligibility.


The core course requirements are: four years of English; two years of physical science; two years of math, starting with algebra one or higher; two years of social science, such as history or government; one year of additional math, English, or physical science; and finally, three years of additional courses like foreign language, philosophy, or religion.


Homeschooled athletes should find these requirements easy to meet, but you'll want to plan ahead to avoid problems with eligibility later on. Graduation from high school is required before the final eligibility can be determined.


Join us this week as we explore other aspects of college athletics, and talk with one homeschooled student athlete about the compliance process. We hope this will help your student athlete prepare to meet the challenges ahead. I'm Mike Farris.