College Admissions Adapts To Students Taught at Home

By Julie Blair

Many colleges and universities that once viewed home-schooled applicants with skepticism have recently begun to change that outlook, a new survey suggests, with some even going so far as to craft special admissions policies to simplify the assessment process for students who have been taught at home.

The survey of 513 public and private colleges and universities found that all but two of the institutions had policies in place to critique home-schooled applicants during the 1998-99 school year, according to a report released last month by home schooling advocates.

Sixty-eight percent of such policies were considered favorable to home-schooled students, evidence that dramatic shifts in attitudes have taken place in higher education over the past few years, said Christopher J. Klicka, the senior counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association. The group oversees the National Center for Home Education, the organization...