Pennsylvania · high school · 2026-2027 school year
Pennsylvania homeschool graduation requirements, diploma, and transcript
Trellis has no step-by-step law page for Pennsylvania yet. The state's own statute and agency sources at the end of this page are the primary references.
Pennsylvania is one of the few states whose law sets graduation courses for a home education program itself. 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d): "The following minimum courses in grades nine through twelve are established as a requirement for graduation in a home education program: (1) Four years of English. (2) Three years of mathematics. (3) Three years of science. (4) Three years of social studies. (5) Two years of arts and humanities." The supervisor issues the diploma, co-signed by the twelfth-grade evaluator, or a Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)-approved diploma-granting organization issues it; since Act 196 of 2014 (24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d.1)) that diploma carries the same rights as a public-school diploma. No state or district issues it.
The short version
- Who sets the requirement: Pennsylvania's own law sets the graduation courses for a home education program, 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d), the fifteen years in the table below; the supervisor issues the diploma.
- The state's rule: 15 credits set by 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d) for a home education diploma, in the table below; colleges set their own expectations on top of it.
- What colleges actually look for: the universities in the table below publish their own course expectations.
- What a transcript must show: courses by year, credits, and grades, kept by the parent, with the same subject headings the reference table uses.
- Across states: compare what 51 flagship universities ask.
The credit table the law sets for a home education diploma
Pennsylvania's law sets 15 credits for a home education diploma (24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d)). This is the rule itself, not a reference; the parent-issued diploma rests on it. A recruited athlete also registers with the NCAA Eligibility Center, which grades home-school core courses against its own worksheet, separate from this table.
| Subject | Credits | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d): four years of English. |
| Math | 3 | 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d): three years of mathematics. |
| Science | 3 | 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d): three years of science. |
| Social studies | 3 | 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d): three years of social studies. |
| Foreign language | 0 | Not named in § 13-1327.1(d). Penn State lists its own language expectation below; Pitt's homeschool page names none. |
| PE and health | 0 | Not named in § 13-1327.1(d) as a graduation course; physical education and health are among the subjects a secondary home education program teaches under § 13-1327.1(c). |
| Arts | 2 | arts and humanities. 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d): two years of arts and humanities. |
| Electives | 0 | The statute sets no elective count; the fifteen years above are the minimum, and the supervisor decides the rest. |
| Other | 0 | The Keystone Exams and 22 Pa. Code chapter 4 bind public schools, not a home education program. The evaluator's twelfth-grade certification closes the graduation requirement (§ 13-1327.1(d.1)); the annual affidavit and portfolio under § 13-1327.1(b) and (e) are the separate, ongoing compliance filings, and since Act 15 of 2020 an unsworn declaration may stand in for the notarized affidavit (PDE's home education page). |
Assessments in the public-school rules: None for a home education program. The Keystone Exams (Algebra I, Biology, Literature) and any PDE-validated local assessment are public-school graduation rules; a home-educated student's yearly evaluation under § 13-1327.1(e) is a separate compliance step, not a graduation exam.
What Pennsylvania colleges ask a homeschooled applicant for
Pennsylvania's own graduation rule for a home education program is the fifteen years above, counted here as one credit per year-long course, 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d), and the supervisor's diploma has carried a public-school diploma's rights since Act 196 of 2014. Penn State's and Pitt's published expectations below sit on top of that minimum.
Years of each subject. 0 means the university lists no requirement in that subject; a dash means it publishes no figure for it.
flagship Penn State University Park
| Subject | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | – |
| Math | 3 | – |
| Science | 3 | – |
| Social studies | 3 | – |
| Foreign language | 2 | – |
| Arts | see Social studies | see Social studies |
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.
Two-year-degree programs at Penn State use a separate, lower chart (4 English, 5 combined social studies/arts/humanities/world language, 2 science, 2 math); figures here are for a four-year degree only. Penn State University Park requirements (source), checked 2026-09-05.
University of Pittsburgh
| Subject | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | – |
| Math | 3 | – |
| Science | 3 | – |
| Social studies | 3 | – |
| Foreign language | – | – |
| Arts | 2 | – |
Figures are from Pitt's published homeschool-applicant course guidance; Pitt's homeschool page publishes no separate foreign-language minimum. University of Pittsburgh requirements (source), checked 2026-09-01.
Questions families ask
Does Pennsylvania require a homeschool diploma?
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How many credits does a Pennsylvania homeschool diploma need?
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Who signs a homeschool transcript in Pennsylvania?
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What does Penn State University Park expect from a homeschooled applicant?
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How Trellis checks your transcript against this table
In Trellis, the courses you plan and the work your children check off become the transcript as you go. The graduation card reads that transcript against the table above and says, subject by subject, what is earned and what is still open, and it notices a course filed under the wrong heading before a college does. Nothing is retyped at the end of senior year.
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