For a college student under age 18 to receive federal financial aid, both the student and the college which is granting federal aid must be "eligible" under the federal Higher Education Act. It has been clear since 1998 that students who are homeschool graduates are eligible. However, Department of Education interpretations late in the Clinton administration called into question whether an institution, which awarded aid to a homeschooler, could remain eligible.

After this nonsensical interpretation, universities in Texas, Maine, New York, and Virginia expressed concern that their institutional eligibility for federal funds would be denied if they opened their doors to homeschoolers. In some cases, admissions were revoked.

HONDA would remedy this confusion by putting the unclear institutional eligibility requirements in line with the clear student eligibility section of the Higher Education Act. The student eligibility section permits the granting of federal aid to homeschool graduates under 18 years of age.

In the 2001 tax relief bill, Congress passed the long debated Coverdell Education Savings Accounts. This law gave parents the opportunity to save up to $2000 for education annually. This money can grow tax free if used to pay for their child's education expenses, such as books, supplies, etc.

Unfortunately, this law's qualifications for eligible expenses do not include homeschool expenses, unless a family is homeschooling in one of the fourteen states where a homeschool is treated as a private school.

HONDA would remedy this discrimination by amending the law to clarify that homeschool expenses are permissible expenses under the Coverdell Education Savings Accounts regardless of what state they live in.

Under the federal Family Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA), the records of students held by public schools are not freely available to the public. However, many homeschoolers are required by state law to file information with public education officials. These records are not protected from disclosure under FERPA. Furthermore, freedom of information laws may actually require these records be open to whoever would inquire about them, even where the public school is trying to keep them private. This is a violation of privacy for those homeschoolers who willingly comply with the law and whose records are held by government institutions.

HONDA would grant homeschool students' records FERPA protection in the same way it protects public school student records.

Under 29 C.F.R.§ 570.2 the Department of Labor limits the work of students between the ages of 14 and 16 to hours outside traditional school hours. "School hours" has been interpreted by the Labor Department as the hours in the school district where the 14 and 15 year old minor is living; not hours based on the individual child's attendance.

Regulating homeschooled students based on public school schedules restricts flexibility---a key component of homeschooling.

HONDA would amend the child labor laws to eliminate this discrimination against homeschoolers by permitting work during traditional school hours. Homeschool students would, however, still be subject to all other child labor laws, including the number of hours worked.

The Individuals with Disability Education Act is a federal program which helps families with disabled children obtain special needs services for their children. IDEA requires that states have in place policies which help identify disabled students who might need services.

Many education officials are under the belief that current IDEA law requires them to give evaluations to children regardless of whether parents give consent, even children who are not in traditional school. This is an erroneous reading of IDEA and is unjust to families who have chosen to remain free from all government assistance. Under the current interpretation of IDEA, even homeschool students who are ineligible for services could be subject to forced evaluations.

HONDA would clarify existing law that IDEA does not require evaluations of homeschoolers who are not seeking services.