As you reach the high school years, you may begin wondering how to go about securing scholarships for homeschoolers. While it isn’t as simple as some from a traditional public school may find, it is definitely not impossible and actually quite easy to manage if you know where to look and what to do. This guide will give you and your student tips on how to get the right college scholarships to help pay for their future education.

How To Get College Scholarships For Homeschoolers

Setting your child up for a great future includes a solid education. While a college education may not be ideal for everyone, it is a great choice for most students as they end their high school career. Not only is it required more and more in most career fields of work, it will provide them with new life experiences that are great for their development as human beings. These tips will help you to make sure your child can find and secure scholarships for homeschoolers to help pay for their education.

Encourage them to take SAT or ACT testing in high school. One of the most important things a homeschooled student can do to secure a college scholarship is to have proof of their level of education and academic excellence. The most common way to do this, is to take the SAT or ACT that is offered at many schools and colleges during the high school years.

These tests will show a measure of academic knowledge in most students and higher scores are great additions to college scholarship applications, especially if that child is homeschooled and does not have a letter of recommendation from a high school counselor or administrator.

To help your students do better on these standardized tests, you can purchase study guides and begin working regularly with them on them early in their high school career. In most areas, you can take these tests each high school year, so if they score low as a freshman they can try again each year for higher scores.

Keep them involved in sports or music programs. A lot of great scholarships for homeschoolers come through sports or music programs. Whether they participate as part of a high school in your community, or through local community programs these are great ways to build their visibility for college scholarships from the college itself as well as sports programs nationwide.

Sports and music are not always a guarantee of continued scholarships in college if they do not maintain the level of experience the college requires, but they can be great supplements and additions to help pay for a college education for a homeschooler. They may also be a great way to get into career oriented programs of interest to your student.

Sports that can often provide scholarships for homeschoolers:

  • Football, baseball, softball, tennis, track and field, volleyball, gymnastics, dance, and soccer

Participate in educational contests. There are so many amazing opportunities for homeschoolers to participate alongside other students in educational contests that offer great chances at winning scholarships.

Things to consider participating in:

  • Spelling Bees, Math Clubs, Chess Club, Robotics Club, Debate Club

Each of these can offer a chance to participate in contests that provide your child with a chance at winning a scholarship for college and a degree in that field of study or associated fields.

Participate in beauty pageants. Many do not like the concept of beauty pageants, but they are and have been a great source of scholarships for many woman through the years. As a homeschool student, they are a viable option that are available in almost every community.

Stay active in community programs and outreach or volunteering. While these won’t provide direct scholarships, they do look excellent on scholarship applications. Things like volunteer work, participating in clubs, going on religious missions trips, and community outreach through things like local shelters, The Salvation Army, or even Habitat for Humanity are all great things you can encourage your teen to participate in. These are great not only for going on scholarship applications, but more so for teaching your child about others in the community that are less fortunate than themselves.

Check with your state state board of education. If you are unsure of where to go to find out about college scholarships for your area, don’t hesitate to contact the state board of education. They will be privy to almost all scholarships available, and of course they will also have specific information on homeschooling scholarship opportunities available.

Apply for state lottery scholarships. Many states that have lottery programs also offer scholarships through these systems. If you have a state lottery funded scholarship in your area, you can check about requirements on the state lottery system website or through the board of education. Many of these have very few requirements other than keeping up a specific grade point average each year.

Apply for scholarships through local community programs. There are many local programs in your community that will also offer small scholarships to qualifying students. Most of these require a letter of recommendation and an application submitted early in the students senior year, so start looking early for these opportunities.

Suggest clubs and programs that may have scholarships available:

  • Lions Club, Elk Lodge, Moose Lodge, or Freemasons
  • Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, and other similar community outreach programs for youth
  • Robotics clubs, technology clubs, engineering groups, music clubs, drama clubs, and art clubs
  • Religious groups, churches, and missions organizations may offer scholarships to seminary and religious training schools.

Get in touch with a college advisor in advance of their graduation. If your student has decided what college they have an interest in attending, you can contact their admissions office directly. A college advisor or admissions specialist can easily give them more information on scholarships for homeschoolers in your community. They may also be able to lead you to to a main listing of common scholarships to apply for that other students from their college have used in the past.

As a homeschool parent, ensuring your child has a chance at a great educational future is important. These tips for how to get college scholarships for homeschoolers are a great place to begin. With tons of options available, there is no reason why your son or daughter can’t have a complete scholarship to the college of their choice when graduation arrives.