Homeschool World Forum

The following may be useful:
Texas Home School Coalition: Getting Started
Homeschool Texas: Texas Education Code
Family Educators Alliance of South Texas: Texas Law
North Texas Home Educators Network: Withdrawing from Public School
Homeschool World (us): Texas Homeschool Groups

Regarding high school graduation, you need to fulfill whatever the subject / credit requirements are for graduation in your state. Apparently Texas also requires some final assessment testing as well, albeit a rather pathetically easy assessment:
Texas Education Agency: High School Graduation Requirements

While the state can't mandate what you need to do to graduate to your own satisfaction, colleges generally do require that you be officially graduated from high school as per your state requirements. So the requirements do need to be fulfilled if you intend to have your son apply to college.

Hmm. It has always been my impression that private schools run by homeschoolers have to meet the same minimum standards for graduation as public schools, but perhaps I'm wrong. I imagine that if you're applying to a college in-state, and there are no specific requirements for private school graduation in that state, the college would have to accept you, but for out of state it's going to be far easier to just fulfill the requirements so you can say you're an official Texas high school graduate and not have to trot out a bunch of paperwork explaining your particular criteria for graduation. You may not be legally required to do so, but it will save you a lot of trouble at the better colleges, military academies, etc.

Bottom line, you may be right, but in this case the state requirements are pretty easy, and I think the benefits of fulfilling them outweigh the costs. It's the same principle behind taking standardized subject tests like AP, CLEP, etc., when a portfolio of work is equally acceptable from a legal standpoint. Given more college applicants than there are slots, college admissions will generally weight things in favor of the applicants who involve the least paperwork (and have the best test scores).

Is there anyone here from college admissions that would like to weigh in? What are your procedures for handling out-of-state homeschool / private school graduates who have not completed their state education requirements for high school graduation?

There are often two different ways to homeschool, either as a homeschooler or as a member of a private school (sometimes church school, depending on the state). In the latter case, there's generally a lot less you have to do to prove you're fulfilling the minimum education requirements, so churches or groups of homeschoolers will often set up a private school and do the necessary paperwork and testing for you in return for a token fee (usually $100 or less per year). That way you can do your own thing and not have to worry about overmuch state oversight.

Short version: An umbrella school is a private school that provides a buffer between homeschoolers and the state, by allowing you to homeschool under the private school law rather than the homeschool law.

elliemaejune: Ok then, I stand corrected. In our case, we did have to show proof of graduation equivalence, but we were homeschooling under the homeschooling law rather than an umbrella school, so I guess the situation was different. My brother was also applying to the Coast Guard.

Interesting. Thanks for the information!