When I started homeschooling my kids over 5 years ago, I did a bit of research and was pleased to find that colleges offered duel enrollment courses that homeschoolers could take as college and high school credit.
Now that my son is in 9th grade, I began calling schools to find out where and when he could participate in a joint enrollment program. I was disappointed to find that these programs were no longer available to homeschoolers who were not enrolled in a school at home program. Individual homeschoolers were being barred from access.
This morning I had the following Open Letter to Georgia’s Board of Regents in my inbox. Besides it being quite timely, it spells out what parents in GA want for their homeschooled kids. In part it says,
About 2 years ago, institutions that had previously admitted homeschooled students began refusing to accept these applications. Many very highly qualified homeschooled students are now being rejected.
When students and parents have asked admissions officers why third party oversight is now required in order to apply for joint enrollment, no one can explain other than to cite Board of Regent policy. None are aware of any problems with independent homeschoolers who have been admitted to joint enrollment programs in the past nor of any issues that would have precipitated the change. In some cases, admissions officers won’t even return student or parent phone calls or respond to emails. We find it disturbing that no one will clarify why the change was made and that numerous requests for explanations have been unanswered.
So basically, the ability for homeschoolers to enroll their students in joint enrollment classes has been quietly taken away.
If you are so inclined, please sign the petition.
*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.
* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?