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A North Carolina congressman has introduced legislation to protect homeschoolers from what he feels are discriminatory practices in the college application process.
“There’s some situations that, due to something in our U.S. code and some poorly worded statements, that some of our homeschool young people find that when they’ve applied to college that there are extra things that are placed on them, burdens that are placed on them, which we feel really is discriminatory,” Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital this week.
Harris said homeschool applicants are sometimes required to take the GED to prove graduation equivalency.
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“We’re concerned about that,” Harris said. “We feel like that every student when they’re homeschooled, just like any other student, if they meet the requirements of that college by taking — whether it’s the SAT or the ACT — and submit their scores, fill out the application, write the necessary essays, there shouldn’t be another layer added to them to take something to prove their education when indeed they’ve met those other requirements.”
Harris’ legislation, the Homeschool Graduation Recognition Act, introduced Wednesday, would amend federal law to explicitly classify homeschool graduates as high school graduates.
Harris argues that while the Higher Education Act defines an institution of higher education as one that admits students with a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent, 20 U.S.C. 1091(d) includes an outdated heading, “Students Who Are Not High School Graduates,” which he says wrongly implies homeschoolers fall into that category.
Harris says that while the law acknowledges homeschool graduates as eligible, the heading of “Students Who Are Not High School Graduates,” has caused some colleges and universities to inflict unwarranted requirements on homeschoolers, such as forcing them to take the GED despite having legally graduated.
He pointed to Molloy University in New York, which requires homeschool applicants to obtain a letter from local school district officials confirming the student received an education equivalent to district standards.
On its website, Molloy University tells homeschool applicants that they “must obtain a letter from their local school district officials confirming that the student has received an education ‘substantially equivalent’ to instruction given to students graduating from their district high school or take and pass the GED exam, and receive a High School Equivalency Diploma from their state Education Department. Official SAT/ACT scores are required for all students who are applying within 1 year of HS graduation.”
Harris said his legislation would ensure homeschool graduates are treated fairly in admissions.
“Some of the homeschool students obviously across our country are some of the sharpest and brightest students that there are,” Harri said. “They’ve gotten a quality education, a very strong quality education, and we just feel like that it’s important that when they go through the processes at any college or any university, that they should be treated just like any others.”
“Take the tour at the university, fill out the applications, write the essays, submit whatever scores they need to submit, but they don’t need to be treated like second-class citizens when it comes to issues of college admission,” he added.
As for critics who might say that colleges should have the right to judge applicants however they wish, Harris said he thinks there is a line between judgment and discrimination.
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“I think universities surely are welcome to judge students however they want to, but they’re not free to discriminate against somebody and set extra layers of requirements upon them when, indeed, they’ve met the requirements to speak to it,” Harris said.
Andrea Smiley, vice president of public relations at the University of Phoenix, told Fox News Digital in a statement that “The University of Phoenix recognizes the academic strengths and self-discipline often found among homeschooled learners.”
Smiley added, “Our admissions policy does not explicitly reference homeschooling, but it establishes several ways applicants, including homeschooled students, can meet the high school completion requirement. We are actively exploring ways to refine our admission policies to best accommodate homeschool completers, while maintaining academic integrity and consistency across applicants.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Molloy University for comment.
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