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Hey everyone, thanks for taking time out to read this.

I was reading Reed College's information booklet that they sent me in the mail, and under the section for homeschoolers, a lot of useful information is provided. Among the useful information was the statement that YOU CANNOT BE APPOINTED FEDERAL FINANCIAL AID WITHOUT A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR GED. Now, for me, a GED is not a possibility, because I would never lower my standards just to meet a financial aid requirement. Does anyone know if said diploma must be issued from an ACCREDITED INSTITUTION, or can it be a home-issued diploma, as we planned on doing for me in the first place? If the diploma has to be accredited, I will probably end up enrolling in an accredited institution with a strong history like Futures International, where I am still allowed the advantages of the homeschool environment. So the alternative isn't all that bad, but it was just not what we had planned on in the first place, if you get me.

If anyone has any comments, advice, suggestions, links, or anything of a helpful nature, please reply. I would appreciate it very, very much.

Once again, thanks for your time,

Erika H.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 01:20 pm: Edit

Call the Fin Aid office of several top tier colleges and just ask them.

By Fireforce (Fireforce) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 09:21 pm: Edit

Same situation I encountered. It looks like if you dont have a diploma from a school, you MUST have a GED to become able to get things like Pell Grants. I myself will need those and state grants, but they all stated that.

I would just look at it not as a measure of your skills, but rather just a task that needs to be done to get you where you want to be.

By Demingy (Demingy) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 09:10 pm: Edit

Okay, I know I'm responding to an old post, but this is meant to "clarify" for anyone else that feels the same way as Erika. I'm not sure where she got her information, but in no way does getting a GED "lowering one's standards". After going to HS for three years (and attending Honors classes and getting almost straight A's, being in the top 5th percentile in my class), I had to move out of my parent's house at 16 and get a full-time job (long story, and no one needs to hear my sob story). This was my Junior year, and I was working full-time, had a full course load, had another part-time job that I had to quit, and took a college course. Needless to say, I knew that I couldn't keep that up and I wasn't going to "lower my standards" and live in a shelter or on the streets just so I could get my HS diploma instead of a GED.

I received one of the highest scores on my GED (I don't specifically remember where I placed because I had only four hours of sleep the night before), and once I had my life under control, I enrolled at the local community college (with no problems) and am now looking at transferring to a four-year (this time going to school full-time and working part-time....got to love financial aid).

Sorry about the rant, but that statement just about killed me: "a GED is not a possibility, because I would never lower my standards just to meet a financial aid requirement." What was even worse is that I've seen this type of statement elsewhere, and I just wanted to get this "on the record".

By Justme2 (Justme2) on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 04:49 pm: Edit

Its not true that homeschoolers cannot get Federal Pell Grants. They can.

You need either a High school diploma OR a GED OR a diploma from a homeschool program. Most states require homeschool families to report to their local school board. As long as you weren't "underground," you can issue a certificate that the child completed a high school program and this is acceptable.

See the Department of Education site for clarification.

BTW, my daughter was homeschooled and had no problem getting accepted to college. We also applied for and were awarded federal and state aid.

The biggest problem facing us is that so much of the "financial aid package" includes loans.

By Hsseniorpa (Hsseniorpa) on Monday, April 19, 2004 - 03:47 pm: Edit

what's the big deal about "stooping" to take the GED, it takes 2 days, was probably the biggest waste of 8 hours of my life, but it saved me hours of headache,
you have to think from the college point of view as well, just as there are good homecshooler's there are also lenient (and no doubt lazy) homecshoolers....
I think that a school that you are intersted in attending would be more interested in you if you aren't causing a fuss..i didn't and i still received full tuition merit scholarships to Furman, USC, and NYU