Accredited vs nonaccredited

[Caglehs]

Is there a benefit to using an accredited school as an umbrella school? Friends tell me I need to go accredited but I'm reading colleges look more at Act Sat scores, GPA, community service etc vs accreditation. I've even read that a lot of public schools are not even accredited. Granted I've also seen it said that it is easier to transfer credits from homeschool to public school though we are not even to that point in time yet. We are new to homeschool 4th & 5th grades. Just like knowing our options. So far the ones I've looked at are Category IV schools...only found a couple of Category Iii accredited.

[teachermom2834]

Are you in TN ?(guessing because of your use of Category IV and Category III terminology).

[8filltheheart]

I have graduated 5 kids, number 6 is a sr. They have done the majority of their classes at home with me. A few have taken DE classes. All of them have had no problems with college acceptances, 2 received multiple top competivie scholarships from U's. 

For the people telling you need accreditation, what is their supporting evidence for their claim?

[Ellie]

34 minutes ago, Caglehs said:

Is there a benefit to using an accredited school as an umbrella school? Friends tell me I need to go accredited but I'm reading colleges look more at Act Sat scores, GPA, community service etc vs accreditation. I've even read that a lot of public schools are not even accredited. Granted I've also seen it said that it is easier to transfer credits from homeschool to public school though we are not even to that point in time yet. We are new to homeschool 4th & 5th grades. Just like knowing our options. So far the ones I've looked at are Category IV schools...only found a couple of Category Iii accredited.

What you have read is correct. Very few colleges want applicants to have transcripts from accredited schools. And even if they cared, your dc are still young. Colleges don't care about anything until 9th grade.

Also, there are NO guarantees that public schools will accept high school credits earned at home, and it doesn't matter whether there was an accredited distance-learning school involved or not.

[EKS]

You certainly don't need accreditation for grades 4/5 through 8.

I don't know anything about TN, so if that is where you are and your questions are coming from something specific to that state, don't listen to me.  However...

In general, homeschools aren't accredited, and homeschoolers get into colleges all the time.  

[teachermom2834]

I asked about TN because this debate kind of rages is some areas I have lived. 

I had my first ds at an accredited umbrella school because everyone said it was best and what colleges wanted and that was the advice of those who had gone before me. It was expensive and there were hoops to jump that did not add any value in  our situation. Next ds graduated from an unaccredited umbrella school. It made no difference in his college application process or outcome. I have my current high schooler in an unaccredited umbrella and I have zero reservations about it. 

I will say I really bucked the conventional wisdom where I was living by going unaccredited. The cultural pressure to do that there was strong. Lots of people telling others, authoritatively, that accredited is needed to go to college or get scholarships. It is so untrue but people speak it with such intensity that it keeps getting passed along. It is common belief at a huge co-op I was previously part of that you need to choose an accredited school.

I’ve stopped trying to convince people because they don’t believe me but you absolutely do not need an accredited umbrella school. The colleges do not care. 

[ScoutTN]

Public high schools in TN generally do not accept homeschool credits, regardless of whether or not they were recorded by an accredited umbrella school. 

At least in the broad, general vicinity of Nashville, students must take the ps final exams in order to receive credits for most courses. Math and languages have placement tests, but credit for prior courses is not automatically given. There is no part time enrollment in ps here, though sports participation is allowed, if the student is registered with the gov't and not an umbrella school.  

So, many people consider homeschooling high school "all or nothing" here. But that is a long way away for you!

My oldest is just beginning homeschool high school so I've not done the college admissions yet. But I personally know many homeschooled high school students, all of whom have been accepted to colleges and universities, some quite selective,  without registering with an accredited umbrella school. 

I think high school students who plan to be NCAA athletes have rules and requirements that others don't. 

If you want to register with a umbrella school, choose the one that suits you best now. 

Imo, accreditation is generally irrelevant. 

[8filltheheart]

On top of what @teachermom2834 shared, there is a bizarre culture in TN amg homeschoolers where they think U's "value" certain homeschool umbrellas as more "acceptable." It is all completely bogus and hype.  But, trying to have that conversation with homeschoolers there who think that kids from HLA have a better chance of acceptance than umbrella xyz goes nowhere fast. I have been homeschooling for over 25 yrs and have graduated 5 kids and I had moms with elementary age kids telling me how much it mattered.

it really is strange.

Edited July 15, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[teachermom2834]

7 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

On top of what @teachermom2834 shared, there is a bizarre culture in TN amg homeschoolers where they think U's "value" certain homeschool umbrellas as more "acceptable." It is all completely bogus and hype.  But, trying to have that conversation with homeschoolers there who think that kids from HLA have a better chance of acceptance that xyz goes nowhere fast. I have been homeschooling for over 25 yrs and have graduated 5 kids and I had moms with elementary age kids telling me how much it mattered.

it really is strange.

It is strange! People ask me for advice and are all in awe of what my dc have accomplished and my many years homeschooling. But as soon as I say an accredited diploma is unnecessary they think I’m an idiot.

I used to live where accredited homeschools were king and someone with HLA was told (by parents not colleges) that their diploma was not legitimate. Now I live where people bow to HLA as all knowing and authoritative. Neither is true! HLA is just fine for getting into college but they are not some powerful authority. Why would you let HLA dictate how you homeschool??? 

Choose the umbrella you are comfortable with. All it does (in TN) is keep you legal and provide some record keeping. Nothing you couldn’t do yourself. 

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by teachermom2834

[ScoutTN]

17 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

Choose the umbrella you are comfortable with. All it does (in TN) is keep you legal and provide some record keeping. Nothing you couldn’t do yourself. 

 

Yes, this. An umbrella school is just a legal protection and a bit of administration. 

[Clemsondana]

I'm in East TN and I've never heard people discuss whether an umbrella is accredited or not.  I know people who register with the county (public schools), folks who umbrella with one of the many online programs, and families who umbrella with a local private school.  Most make their choice based on some combination of cost, testing requirements (some families like umbrellas that have yearly testing, and some don't), knowledge about NCAA requirements, physical proximity (ease of stopping by to drop off paperwork or do testing), contents/requirment/lack therof of a statement of faith, or how easy the particular people who run the umbrella are to work with.  People pick whatever best fits their needs, and I've never heard of a student who wanted to go to college struggling to get in somewhere reasonable.  

[alewife]

17 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

I think high school students who plan to be NCAA athletes have rules and requirements that others don't. 

 

Imo, accreditation is generally irrelevant. 

I agree.  In my experience, accreditation is irrelevant.  Homeschoolers who want to play D1 or D2 do have additional NCAA requirements that need to be met, but those requirements have nothing to do with accreditation.  

Fwiw, my D was awarded merit aid at every school she applied to that awards merit aid, and none of her classes was accredited.  

[Ellie]

20 hours ago, Caglehs said:

Is there a benefit to using an accredited school as an umbrella school? Friends tell me I need to go accredited but I'm reading colleges look more at Act Sat scores, GPA, community service etc vs accreditation. I've even read that a lot of public schools are not even accredited. Granted I've also seen it said that it is easier to transfer credits from homeschool to public school though we are not even to that point in time yet. We are new to homeschool 4th & 5th grades. Just like knowing our options. So far the ones I've looked at are Category IV schools...only found a couple of Category Iii accredited.

It looks as if all church-related schools must be accredited. If that's the case, then it isn't that you have a choice between an accredited church related school and an unaccredited church related school. It's that you either do it as an independent homeschooler or enroll in a church related school or a category iii school, which must also be accredited.

[8filltheheart]

54 minutes ago, Ellie said:

It looks as if all church-related schools must be accredited. If that's the case, then it isn't that you have a choice between an accredited church related school and an unaccredited church related school. It's that you either do it as an independent homeschooler or enroll in a church related school or a category iii school, which must also be accredited.

That is not true in TN (if that is the state of residence of the OP). I just googled and this came up from one of the large church-related covers:

Quote

Gateway is recognized by the Tennessee Department of Education as a Category IV, church-related school, exempt from accreditation. As such, Gateway students transferring to public or accredited private schools may be required to take tests for grade-level placement. (Transferring high school students may even be required to take end-of-course tests to determine what credits will be accepted.) Students graduating from Gateway are accepted at colleges and universities, but may be required to take the GED if they score below average on college entrance exams. Gateway does not assume legal responsibility for your family, although we will help in any way possible if problems occur.

As @ClemsonDanastated, different covers require different things. Some require testing, course descriptions, etc. Some just want a list of courses, attendance, and final grades.  None are more "legitimate" than others bc none regulate what is being done a daily basis in the home.  They are not providers; they are more like bookkeepers. 

Edited July 15, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[Guest]

I think part of this comes from quite a few years back. There was a pretty big kerfuffle in the early  2000's where some umbrellas were allowing students to enroll during their senior year and graduate, (and some students took advantage of this when they discovered they were not going to graduate from public school, usually due to the gateway exams) and the state attempted to say that Cat IV diplomas were not considered valid for state licenses (it was an issue for some of our student teachers who had Cat IV diplomas-we could not send them into public schools unless they passed the GED because they did not have a high school diploma the state would accept). It was very short lived (not surprisingly, Christian schools did not handle being told that they could not grant diplomas that were considered valid particularly well, and there are Cat IV schools that are not just homeschool umbrellas) but I think there is still a perception that Cat IV is less good than Cat III because there was a brief period of time where that was the case. Having said that, even when the state was saying Cat IV diplomas didn't count for licensing purposes, the state U here had no trouble accepting transcripts from the same schools for admissions and scholarship purposes.

Edited July 15, 2019 by dmmetler

[cbollin]

2 hours ago, Ellie said:

It looks as if all church-related schools must be accredited. If that's the case, then it isn't that you have a choice between an accredited church related school and an unaccredited church related school. It's that you either do it as an independent homeschooler or enroll in a church related school or a category iii school, which must also be accredited.

 

uh, no.  That is not the case if you are talking about TN. But I think I have an idea where the confusion could be.  I think you may have glanced passed the words "or membership" in the Tn code definition.  Church related schools "required to meet the standards of accreditation or membership" of the various organizations.

Many church related schools (aka umbrella aka cover schools) qualify as such by being "members".  This HLA that has been mentioned has not sought accreditation, yet it is a Cat IV approved church related school.

Original Poster: if you transfer to high school after starting grade 9, expect testing for placement and all of that if you don't do accredited options. And it could happen even for accredited.   For college admissions, in recent years (like the last decade that I've lived in TN), it has not mattered.  The only thing I have heard locally that mattered was about one aspect of the Hope scholarship for those homeschoolers who don't score a 21 on ACT.  But if you score 21 or higher on ACT then accredited vs non accredited does not matter.

Accredited vs non accredited didn't matter for my oldest for college. Her scholarships were based on ACT. Middle kiddo is in community college.  it didn't matter.

Also if you are in TN, I seem to recall legislative that homeschool diplomas are seen as valid.  I can't find the link right now and it's my supper time.

[cbollin]

22 hours ago, Caglehs said:

Is there a benefit to using an accredited school as an umbrella school? Friends tell me I need to go accredited but I'm reading colleges look more at Act Sat scores, GPA, community service etc vs accreditation. I've even read that a lot of public schools are not even accredited. Granted I've also seen it said that it is easier to transfer credits from homeschool to public school though we are not even to that point in time yet. We are new to homeschool 4th & 5th grades. Just like knowing our options. So far the ones I've looked at are Category IV schools...only found a couple of Category Iii accredited.

 

again, assuming TN here. regarding Cat 3 accredited.  The one I know of is out of state (just over the border into MS).  This can impact way down the road for residency for Tn scholarships based on current ways things are done. and laws can change.   and one way I read the state law is that the school associated with ACE curriculum is classified as Cat IV. I'm still re-reading that. every time I read that and think it, I don't know..  I don't use them. so it doesn't apply.  but something still makes me go , really? but I thought they were cat iii?  huh.

    I started to mention this before the blood sugar levels were low before supper.  The big benefit I have heard of for accredited cover school in TN has to do with students who cannot score a 21 on ACT and want to use Hope scholarship funds for state colleges.  However, just because a church related school has a brick and mortar does not mean the homeschool student is part of that situation.  Some places have successfully operated under a seemingly "we don't offer that information and the state doesn't ask" so the student gets the money even if they have a low score.   I don't really want to say more on that.  can of worms.

But yeah, in TN, discussions of "my cover school is better than yours" are really too odd.   I picked the one I liked based on philosophy.  I did not want to directly enroll with local public district because of my personal philosophy of preference of private sector.   I picked a cover school that was not accredited and not seeking it either.  And they let me do what I want within their very flexible framework.  I knew some of them did not think the way I do.  I didn't pick them. life goes on. lots of options.

Most homeschoolers on this forum are in places without any cover school.  And therefore the question of accredited is not part of the discussion.   There are many stories of acceptance into very selective universities with top notch full ride scholarships for those people.  There are stories of acceptance into not as selective colleges too (not the Ivy's or military academics) and we get scholarships too.   I think some trade schools are still unsure about homeschool and accreditation.

overall, using non accredited cat IV school has not hurt us.

[Farrar]

There are a couple of states where some state universities want to see accredited transcripts, but even with those, there are usually ways around that and nothing before high school is needed anyway. Occasionally Americans living abroad need some sort of accreditation for the country they're in, but that's not common, and Americans who are with the military and military contractors don't need to do that anyway. I agree with others - accreditation is not something you need in the vast majority of cases.