Homeschool World Forum

What exactly does it mean when your homeschool is accredited and how does it effect your child's future college opportunities?

Accredited just means that your program is officially okayed by the applicable state and/or education agency. Depending on your state, an accredited program may save you some trouble fulfilling the legal requirements for homeschooling, and you can get an "official" diploma out of it, but it won't help much with college entrance unless you have decided not to take any standardized tests (AP, CLEP, DSST), which is a bad idea imho because you miss out on any potential college credit from test scores.

So what kind of diploma would you receive if your homeschool is non-accredited? Would you just get some kind of certificate of completion?

Once you fulfill the legal requirements for your state to your own satisfaction, you can "award" yourself a diploma. It won't be an official, accredited diploma, but that won't matter so long as you can back it up with a portfolio of work and/or nationally standardized test scores. CLEP, AP, and DSST are all accepted by high schools and colleges as proof of completion of the corresponding high school-level material, and most colleges accept them for first year college credit as well.

Basically, an accredited diploma gives you a pass out of high school with a single piece of paper. A non-accredited diploma has to be backed up with portfolio and/or test scores. But they're both accepted by colleges, especially now that colleges have discovered homeschoolers make better students.

Many homeschool groups organize a yearly graduation ceremony / prom if you're interested in that sort of thing, and can print you up an official-looking diploma. Check your local homeschool groups for info.