Publication Date: November 2002
DCL ID: GEN-02-11
Eligibility of Home-Schooled Students – Institutional and Student Eligibility
Posted on 11-27-2002
GEN-02-11
G-02-342
L-02-236
Subject:
Eligibility of Home-Schooled Students –
Institutional and Student Eligibility
Summary:
An institution can admit most
home-schooled students as regular students without jeopardizing its eligibility
to participate in the Title IV, HEA student financial assistance programs.
The Department considers that a home-schooled student is beyond the age of compulsory
school attendance if the State in which the institution is located does not
consider the student truant once he or she has completed a home-school program.
Dear
Colleague:
This
letter addresses questions that have been raised concerning the eligibility
of home-schooled students to receive aid from the student financial assistance
programs authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended
(HEA), and the circumstances under which the enrollment of "underage" home-schooled
students may affect an institution's eligibility to participate in the Title
IV, HEA programs. For this purpose,
an "underage" home-schooled student is considered to be someone who has completed
a secondary school education in a home school setting but who is not yet beyond
the age set forth in the compulsory school attendance law of the State in which
the institution is located. We understand
that these questions have been raised in part because of guidance that appears
in the 2001-2002 Student Financial Aid Handbook.
The 2002-2003 Handbook contains updated guidance as described in this letter.
Background
Generally,
nearly all students who have completed home-schooling can be admitted to institutions
as regular students without jeopardizing the institution’s eligibility to
participate in the Title IV, HEA programs, and most home-schooled students may
receive Title IV, HEA program assistance, assuming they meet the basic eligibility
criteria.
However,
we have become aware of a potential problem associated with the admission of
“underage” home-schooled students because of the differences in the statutory
provisions that define “eligible institutions” and “eligible students”.
Under
the student eligibility provisions of section 484(d)(3) of the HEA, a student
who does not have a high school diploma or GED is eligible to receive Title
IV, HEA program assistance if the student "completes a secondary school education
in a home school setting that is treated as a home school or private school
under State law." Section 484(d)(3)
imposes no age limitation on the eligibility of home-schooled students.
This change was enacted as part of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998.
However,
under section 484(a)(1) of the HEA, a student must be enrolled in an eligible
institution to receive Title IV, HEA program assistance, and the statute requires
that an eligible institution may admit as regular students only students with
high school diplomas or GEDs, or students who are beyond the age of compulsory
school attendance in the State in which the institution is located.
Home Schooled Students – Institutional and Student Eligibility
Specifically,
under sections 101 and 102 of the HEA, an institution qualifies
as an eligible institution if it satisfies the definitional elements of an "institution
of higher education." One of those
definitional elements requires an eligible institution to admit
as regular [matriculating] students only (1) “persons having a certificate
of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized
equivalent of such a certificate” or (2) “persons who are beyond the age
of compulsory school attendance in the State in which the institution is located.”
[See sections 101(a)(1), 101(b)(2),
102(b)(2), and 102(c)(2) of the HEA].
(Note: For the purposes of this
letter, we refer to the "certificate of graduation" reference in the HEA as
a "high school diploma" and the "recognized equivalent of such a certificate"
reference in the HEA as a GED.)
Because
home-schooled students under the HEA are considered not to have high school
diplomas or GEDs, an extremely literal, non-harmonious reading of the two HEA
sections (institutional eligibility and student eligibility) would produce the
illogical result of making institutions ineligible to participate in the Title
IV, HEA programs if they enrolled “under age” home schooled students who
are eligible to receive Title IV, HEA program assistance.
To avoid that result, we must read the two provisions in harmony.
Eligibility
of “underage” home-schooled students for Title IV, HEA program assistance
We
consider an "underage" home-schooled student to be "beyond
the age of compulsory school attendance in the State in which the institution
is located," if that State does not
consider the student truant once he or she has completed a home-school program;
or would not require the student to attend school or continue to be home-schooled.
Enrollment of these students would therefore not jeopardize the institution’s
eligibility.
Documentation requirements
With
regard to documenting a home-schooled student's completion of secondary school
in a home-schooled setting, an institution may accept a home-schooled student's
self-certification that he or she completed secondary school in a home school
setting, just as it may accept a high school graduate’s self-certification
of his or her receipt of a high school diploma.
Self-certification of the receipt of a high-school diploma is commonly done
through an answer to a question on the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid (FAFSA). However, because the FAFSA
does not include a question regarding home-school completion, institutions may
accept such self-certifications in institutional application documents, in letters
from the students, or in some other appropriate record.
As
a final point, we would like to emphasize that the above discussion relates
only to Title IV, HEA program institutional and student eligibility issues.
Decisions regarding admission standards and requirements for students, including
home-schooled students, are generally matters of institutional policy.
We hope that this information
will be helpful to you. If you have any questions you can contact the FSA Customer
Service Call Center. The Call Center staff can be reached through any of the
following means:
·
Via phone Monday through Friday between the
hours of 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM (Eastern Time) at 1-800-433-7327. After hours calls
will be accepted by an automated voice response system. Callers leaving their
names and phone numbers will receive a return call the next business day.
·
Via FAX at (202) 275-5532.
·
Via e-mail at
fsa.customer.support@ed.gov.
·
Via the Schools Portal on the Internet by going
to http://fsa4schools.ed.gov
and then clicking on the "Got a Question?" button.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey R.
Andrade
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Office
of Postsecondary Education
