Without a guidance counselor or advisor to assist them, college-bound home-schooled students rely heavily on personal research for scholarship information.
A new measure in the Arizona Legislature is attempting to lend those students a helping hand.
Senate Bill 1280 would require all state universities to publish eligibility criteria for merit-based scholarships and to inform all students about these scholarships within a “timely manner.”
“We are just trying to seek more transparency,” said Carol Shippy, a board member and legislative liaison for Arizona Families for Home Education, a nonprofit organization that helps homeschooling families.
Shippy, a mother of two home-schooled children, said some students are having an easier time finding scholarship criteria from out-of-state universities compared to Arizona schools.
“The parents are in the role that a school counselor would be in,” Shippy said. “We want it to be more accessible … for parents.”
This isn’t the first time state lawmakers have reached out to the homeschooling community.
A law passed in 1999 requires state universities to provide fair access to merit-based scholarships, giving home-schooled students the same opportunity as public and private school students.
The new measure would add to the state statute, making it necessary for state universities to publish the minimum test score requirements for scholarship eligibility.
Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, the sole sponsor of the bill, said the legislation is attempting to create more fairness between home-schooled students and students from public or private institutions.
“[But] you’re never going to get a process perfectly fair,” he said.
Huppenthal said he wants the bill to help home-schooled students, but doesn’t want to overburden the universities in distributing the information.
Journalism freshman Julia Taylor, a former home-schooled student and recipient of a National Merit Scholarship, said she didn’t run into many problems while applying to college and for University scholarships.
“We had to do a lot of research on our own just to make sure I was taking the right classes and knowing where to look for scholarships,” she said. “A lot of it was home-based, but obviously it worked out OK.”
Taylor received her National Merit Scholarship for scoring in the 99th percentile on the PSAT. She said she applied for 10 or 12 scholarships before coming to ASU and received a $1,500 scholarship from Arizona Families for Home Education.
Taylor said home schooling groups like Arizona Families for Home Education provided her with opportunities similar to public and private school students.
Huppenthal said he expects the new scholarship bill to pass through the Senate.
“I think that this bill will be well-received,” he said.
Reach the reporter at kjdaly@asu.edu
