Flexible admissions requirements

Does anyone know of colleges that have flexible admission requirements for a young man who is now in his 20's and was homeschooled as a child? The college does not have to be regionally accredited as long as it is DETC accredited or accredited by an acceptable Christian organization.

He is currently in a mentoring program to become ordained as a youth pastor in his church. Ideally I think a ministry related associates degree would be best, but I would like to hear about any associates or bachelors degrees that might accept him without a traditional high school diploma.

One idea that I had was for him to take a few classes through Straighterline first and then apply to a college as a transfer student based on those credits. Does anyone know of colleges that might accept him using this route? Or do you have any other ideas? Right now we are at the brainstorming stage, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would recommend Liberty! Online Education and Distance Learning Degrees | Liberty University Online

 

Thank you. I checked out their admissions requirements, and it does look like they are able to be flexible. I'll add them to our list of colleges to check out. Any more ideas?

 

If this young man has met the requirements of the state he was homeschooled in, then he has a diploma.

HSLDA | Colleges and Universities Issue Center

Shawn

 

The lack of a traditional HS diploma isn't the red flag it once was...I suspect just about any Community College will welcome him in, most state and private schools as well. They may require formalized tests to assess his ability...but that would likely be true anyway.

The Big 3; Thomas Edison State College, Charter Oak State College, and Excelsior College are all home school friendly. He could even use free FEMA courses at TESC and COSC for a portion of some degrees. This is, to me, the easiest degree to attain with just 21 credits from exams like CLEP/DSST/ALEKS/Straighterline and the balance from free (and easy) FEMA courses Thomas Edison State College: Environmental, Safety & Security Technologies

I think you are imposing limits that don't really exist...virtually any school is an option based on his abilities. A cheap CC is New Mexico Junior College...tons of online options, CLEP friendly....should let him in with an accuplacer exam he can schedule at a local library.

He should pick a school that appeals to him and go see how to get in...he has plenty of options.

 

Clear Creek Bible College is a small college in Kentucky that has fully online degree programs in Christian ministry. CCBC also has regional accreditation...

Clear Creek Baptist Bible College online located in Pineville, Kentucky offering online degree programs and courses.

 

Thanks for all of the feedback!

I homeschooled my two older children through high school and agree that being homeschooled is not always an obstacle for getting into college. When my daughter finished her high school program, the local 2 year college allowed homeschooled students to be admitted provisionally. She did very well at the community college and then transferred to a four year college after a year. For my son, I enrolled him in Penn Foster, and he had no problems getting into college with his high school diploma.

For the young man that I was writing about, he may just need me to help him create a transcript of the courses that he took his last 4 years of being homeschooled. He does not have a solid record of what he studied, and I don't think he feels very confident about his education because he checks the box for not having a high school diploma on job applications. One of the reasons that I want to help him at least get a few college credits is because I think he'll have a much better chance of getting jobs if he is able to check the "some college" box when applying for jobs.

The local 2 year school has changed their admission policy for homeschooled students, and I do not think that he would be able to meet the new requirements. I will check out the other colleges that you guys have suggested.

Rebel100, I'd love to know more about the associates degree with FEMA credits from TESC. I'll put it on the list of options for the young man, but I'd also like to know more about it for my husband. We had decided against the emergency management degree from Clackamas Community College because some of his previous college credits didn't look like they would transfer in to the program. Do you know if he could apply some previous college credits that he has in computers to the TESC program? My husband actually just started taking straighterline courses through City Vision College this past week, but it would be great if he could pick up an associates degree along the way.

 

Has he considered taking the GED tests? A GED diploma should meet high school equivalency requirements for many many contexts, possibly most or almost all.

 

Yes, help him create either a transcript or portfolio. He should also check that he is a high school graduate, as long as the homeschool met the requirements of the state he lives in. As long as this happened, he is a high school graduate - and does NOT need to take the GED. The GED is designed for people who dropped out of school; not for home school grads.

As Rebel pointed out, his options are WIDE open.

Shawn

 

TESC is pretty open about the free electives and area of study for that program...so I bet there is a great chance they would fit at least some computer certs/credits in there. The Clakamas degree is great, but I think he would have to access in state EM classes like IS300/400, etc... Those are usually onlyaccesable to those in the field like EM's, FF's, Cops, etc... The TESC degree is MUCH more flexible, though the fee's are high at around $3000 or so...depends on what your after. I like the TESC AAS as a confidence builder or to pick up as low hanging fruit on the way to a TESC Bachelors. The director of the program at CCC was really easy to talk to and quick to answer questions...before discounting it I would shoot him an e-mail and ask about the credit. Red Rocks CC in Colorado has a program to, but again it's not easy to complete unless your in Colorado...same with Guam CC.

The young man could just start with completing the FEMA PDS...it's worth college credit and might be a good first step towards getting his confidence up. http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/pds/PDS%20Brochure.pdf It also results in a nice little wallhanger/resume stuffer certificate from FEMA...it's actually required for a lot of Emergency Management jobs these days to.

He needs to develop transcripts of his work and maybe even a diploma...then start honestly checking "yes" on applications.

I know others disagree, but i would stick with regionally accredited colleges...life is to short to ever have a degree you worked hard for second guessed by would be employers. (I know a as a minister this might be less true...but RA is still completely doable and there are to many great options to settle for less IMO).

Best,
Mike

 

Here is info about California:

By law, the California Community Colleges are required to admit any California resident who graduated from high school, and may admit those who have not graduated but are over 18 years of age and can benefit from the instruction offered.
Source: California Postsecondary Education Commission -- California Community College Information

I'm sure many other states have similar policies

 

If he takes a course or two at a community college (most have open enrollment), he should be able to virtually anywhere. Check out Clovis Community College as an inexpensive option to get started. You might also want to look at Tennessee Temple University (ABHE accredited, physical campus, and well respected in Christian circles).