College planning for homeschoolers, state by state
Choose a state below to see the course expectations its flagship university publishes.
What to prepare for an applicationTranscript, course descriptions, grading scale, and source context
A homeschooled applicant files the same application as anyone else, but supplies pieces a school's counseling office would normally send: the transcript, course descriptions, and often the counselor's report. Every college reads it against the expectations it publishes for all applicants, and the clearest of those are the flagship public universities' course lists. Here is each state's course list. It comes from the university's admissions page or, where the state system publishes it, the system's own requirements. Each source is linked in its row.
42 of the 51 universities publish a subject-by-subject minimum; all of them require four years of English, and 14 require four years of math. The rest admit on grade point average, test tiers or a holistic read, and their row says so.
What the file usually holds
A transcript the parent prepares: courses by year, credits, and grades, with the grading scale stated, under the same subject headings the reference tables use.
Course descriptions for the courses a reader cannot infer from a title, and the materials behind them.
A short school profile: how you graded, what a typical course load looked like, and any outside instruction used. The Common App, the Coalition application, and state systems such as ApplyTexas each collect this through the counselor's school report, which the parent usually completes as the home school's counselor of record, including the FAFSA and CSS Profile counselor fields, which the parent completes as the school official. State the grading scale there too: 4.0 unweighted, or which courses add weight, held constant across the four years.
A stated grading scale: print it once on the transcript, say whether honors or dual-credit courses are weighted, and grade to it consistently. Readers work from the scale you state.
Outside validation where it exists: dual-credit courses named by kind (college faculty, concurrent enrollment at the high school, AP, CLEP), test scores where a college asks for them (some test-optional colleges still ask a homeschooled applicant), and letters from anyone other than the parent who taught.
The state's own line: most states set no graduation requirement on a homeschool; the parent issues the diploma. Each state's page below says whether that state sets one.
Years of study the university lists as its minimum, with its recommendation in parentheses where it publishes a higher one. A 0 means the university lists no requirement in that subject, even if it recommends one in parentheses; a dash means it sets no minimum, and a number in parentheses beside it is a figure the university publishes without making it a minimum. A row of all dashes means the university publishes no numeric course pattern at all. The full tables, the university's own note, and the state's diploma line are on each state's high-school page.
The full table stays available when the box is empty.
Showing all 51 states.
The figures below are the university's published course expectations. Open the state's high-school page for its full context.
5 additional academic units (fine arts/computer literacy recommended); the 1 foreign-language unit may be met with courses reflecting global and cultural perspectives if a student's school did not require or offer foreign language
16-credit core curriculum; math, science and social sciences can each range 3-4 credits depending on program, with 1 lab-science credit required; 2.5 minimum GPA
1 year American history within social studies; ABOR allows admission with one deficiency in no more than two competency areas, never both math and laboratory science
UD publishes suggested years, not minimums: 16 units in all, with 3 academic electives from English, math, science, social science, foreign language or other academic areas
Its Flagship program asks for a high school diploma or GED plus a 2.5 GPA with an 890 SAT or 16 ACT, or a 2.0 GPA with a 1030 SAT or 19 ACT; tests are optional for now. The Community College admits any diploma or GED holder.
No published subject-credit list; admission is GPA-tiered (3.00+ GPA = automatic; 2.60-2.99 needs ACT or SAT scores or the Vandal Gateway Program), and an Idaho resident scoring 3 or higher on both ISAT Math and Literacy is eligible regardless of GPA
University of Iowa (Board of Regents' Regent Admission Index and course requirements, shared by Iowa's three Regent universities)
English
4
Math
3
Science
3
Social studies
3
Foreign language
2
Arts
0
15 total college-prep units; a Regent Admission Index (RAI) score of at least 245 gives automatic admission for an Iowa resident, and below 245 means individual review
2 elective courses from core subjects, arts/humanities, or computer science; math must include a senior-year course; 3 science courses must include lab work
5 units from the subject groups (4 for Engineering and Nursing); Business, Engineering, Nursing and Pharmacy ask for 4 units of math, Nursing and Pharmacy for 4 of science; at least two rigorous writing courses inside the English units and at least two laboratory science courses inside the science units
2 advanced electives, one of them foreign language or world geography (foreign language, world geography, a fourth year of lab science or of mathematics), and one-half unit of computer applications; 15.5 Carnegie units in all
15 total units; 2 more full-year college-prep courses beyond the thirteen named-subject units (4 English, 3 math, 2 lab science, 2 history or social science, 2 of one world language)
16 total academic units: 5 more academic courses of the applicant's choice; Engineering wants 4 mathematics through precalculus, Nursing wants biology and chemistry
University of Oklahoma (Oklahoma State Regents' statewide college-prep curriculum)
English
4
Math
3
Science
3
Social studies
3
Foreign language
–
Arts
–
additional units from foreign language, computer science or technology, psychology, sociology, AP, or qualifying concurrent enrollment (the Regents' page lists the categories without a count)
Category 2 figures shown (all four-year majors outside Smeal Business, Earth and Mineral Sciences, Engineering, IST, and Eberly Science, and their counterparts at other campuses). Category 1 majors need 3.5 math units (adds a half unit of trigonometry, precalculus, or calculus) instead of 3; both categories need the same English, science, and world-language units. The 3 social-studies units are a combined 'Social Studies/Art/Humanities' bucket, so arts is not itemized separately and is not additive on top of it.
Remaining 5 core academic units: up to 3 may be academic electives such as computer science, engineering, business, art, or music; 18 core academic units expected overall
Plus one of: GPA 2.6+, top 50% class rank, ACT 21+/SAT 1070+, or a 3 or higher on the English Language Arts and Mathematics Smarter Balanced Assessments (Board of Regents system-wide core)
No published minimums: the figures in parentheses are the course loads UTK suggests, not required minimums; ACT/SAT scores and core GPA carry the actual review
math should include Algebra II or a higher-rigor equivalent (UT's word is 'should'); UT publishes no figure beyond the requirement for English or foreign language, so those cells show one figure rather than a minimum and a recommendation
1 senior-year math-based quantitative course as its own CADR line, beside 3 math and 3 science; 0.5 academic elective credit in a core subject; total 17 CADR credits
4 years of additional coursework in one combined bucket (foreign language, fine arts, or career education) with two years in the same subject, so language and the arts show as dashes
Also: 5 additional academic units (fine arts/computer literacy recommended); the 1 foreign-language unit may be met with courses reflecting global and cultural perspectives if a student's school did not require or offer foreign language
Also: 16-credit core curriculum; math, science and social sciences can each range 3-4 credits depending on program, with 1 lab-science credit required; 2.5 minimum GPA
Also: 1 year American history within social studies; ABOR allows admission with one deficiency in no more than two competency areas, never both math and laboratory science
No numeric course pattern: UD publishes suggested years, not minimums: 16 units in all, with 3 academic electives from English, math, science, social science, foreign language or other academic areas
No numeric course pattern: Its Flagship program asks for a high school diploma or GED plus a 2.5 GPA with an 890 SAT or 16 ACT, or a 2.0 GPA with a 1030 SAT or 19 ACT; tests are optional for now. The Community College admits any diploma or GED holder.
No numeric course pattern: No published subject-credit list; admission is GPA-tiered (3.00+ GPA = automatic; 2.60-2.99 needs ACT or SAT scores or the Vandal Gateway Program), and an Idaho resident scoring 3 or higher on both ISAT Math and Literacy is eligible regardless of GPA
Also: 15 total college-prep units; a Regent Admission Index (RAI) score of at least 245 gives automatic admission for an Iowa resident, and below 245 means individual review
No numeric course pattern: The KU course page publishes no minimum pattern; it encourages the Kansas Scholars Curriculum, shown as the recommended figures
Also: 2 elective courses from core subjects, arts/humanities, or computer science; math must include a senior-year course; 3 science courses must include lab work
Also: 5 units from the subject groups (4 for Engineering and Nursing); Business, Engineering, Nursing and Pharmacy ask for 4 units of math, Nursing and Pharmacy for 4 of science; at least two rigorous writing courses inside the English units and at least two laboratory science courses inside the science units
Also: 2 advanced electives, one of them foreign language or world geography (foreign language, world geography, a fourth year of lab science or of mathematics), and one-half unit of computer applications; 15.5 Carnegie units in all
Also: 17 required core units total (4 English, 4 math, 3 science, 3 social studies, 2 foreign language, 1 fine arts); all math must be Algebra I or higher.
Also: 15 total units; 2 more full-year college-prep courses beyond the thirteen named-subject units (4 English, 3 math, 2 lab science, 2 history or social science, 2 of one world language)
Also: 16 total academic units: 5 more academic courses of the applicant's choice; Engineering wants 4 mathematics through precalculus, Nursing wants biology and chemistry
No numeric course pattern: UNM asks for the standard New Mexico high-school curriculum, or its equivalent in another state, and publishes no unit counts or GPA floor of its own
Also: additional units from foreign language, computer science or technology, psychology, sociology, AP, or qualifying concurrent enrollment (the Regents' page lists the categories without a count)
Also: Category 2 figures shown (all four-year majors outside Smeal Business, Earth and Mineral Sciences, Engineering, IST, and Eberly Science, and their counterparts at other campuses). Category 1 majors need 3.5 math units (adds a half unit of trigonometry, precalculus, or calculus) instead of 3; both categories need the same English, science, and world-language units. The 3 social-studies units are a combined 'Social Studies/Art/Humanities' bucket, so arts is not itemized separately and is not additive on top of it.
Also: Remaining 5 core academic units: up to 3 may be academic electives such as computer science, engineering, business, art, or music; 18 core academic units expected overall
Also: Plus one of: GPA 2.6+, top 50% class rank, ACT 21+/SAT 1070+, or a 3 or higher on the English Language Arts and Mathematics Smarter Balanced Assessments (Board of Regents system-wide core)
No numeric course pattern: No published minimums: the figures in parentheses are the course loads UTK suggests, not required minimums; ACT/SAT scores and core GPA carry the actual review
Also: math should include Algebra II or a higher-rigor equivalent (UT's word is 'should'); UT publishes no figure beyond the requirement for English or foreign language, so those cells show one figure rather than a minimum and a recommendation
Also: 1 senior-year math-based quantitative course as its own CADR line, beside 3 math and 3 science; 0.5 academic elective credit in a core subject; total 17 CADR credits
Also: 4 years of additional coursework in one combined bucket (foreign language, fine arts, or career education) with two years in the same subject, so language and the arts show as dashes
How you would know your transcript meets this
In Trellis, the courses you plan and the work your children check off become the transcript as you go, printed on one page with the grading scale, the credits, and a footnote for every dual-credit course worded for its kind. The graduation card, a checklist in Trellis, reads that transcript against your state's reference table as credits accumulate, so what is still missing shows years before an application does. It is a record, never a verdict.