Featured Image

College-Prep Homeschooling: Creating Transcripts

For colleges and universities, proof of graduation is the transcript that indicates which courses were completed, when, and what grade was earned. To make sure your transcripts are adequate, you'll need to include the right information.

A high school diploma is simply a piece of paper. For colleges and universities, proof of graduation is the transcript that indicates which courses were completed, when, and what grade was earned. To make sure your transcripts are adequate, you’ll need to include the right information.

Colleges and universities may require you to put transcripts into a specific format, such as a spreadsheet. Usually schools want to see a breakdown of courses in a semester-by-semester format. They may require that you send the transcripts via regular mail or the school may prefer an e-mailed copy. Some schools may request an official copy with the “school administrator’s” signature and a notary stamp. Again, it’s important to contact the school(s) to determine any requirements.

At a minimum, the following information should be easy to identify on your transcripts:

  • Student’s full name (and probably social security number too)
  • School name, address, and phone number
  • Name of the “official” submitting the transcripts
  • Years of attendance, indicating each grade level by year(s)
  • Courses (by name) that were completed—by year, semester, or grade level based on the school’s preferences
  • Grade earned for each course
  • Credits awarded for each course
  • Graduation date and statement of completion

If a child earned credits from another school, such as from a college or university, you will want to note these courses, credits, and grades on the transcript as well. You will probably also have to request official transcripts from the college your child attended, which will be then sent directly to the new college or university.

It may be necessary to break the transcript information down into semesters (fall and spring) if a school requires it. Additionally, some schools may want to see the following:

  • The total credits for each year
  • The GPA (grade point average) for each year
  • A running total of credits
  • The overall GPA

The goal is to make it easy for schools to get the information they need from your transcripts. Remember, school admission counselors have to review the information provided to complete paperwork for their records. It’s for your child’s benefit that you make it easy for counselors to get what they need from the transcripts—to this end, schools may have you “transfer” the transcript information to their preferred credit-summary form.

Sample transcript format

Here you’ll find some sample formats you might want to use for your homeschool transcripts. Although only one or two years are listed, you should include all of your child’s years in high school. Different views of the course breakdown are provided as examples; however, schools will usually want to see only one view to avoid confusion.

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS—DOE HOMESCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL

Student’s Name: John J. Doe

Social Security Number: XXX-XX-XXXX

School Name: Doe Homeschool

School Address: 123 Main Street

School Phone Number: 555-555-9876

School Contact Person and Position: Jane Doe, Principal

Years of Attendance:

  • 9th Grade: 1999–2000
  • 10th Grade: 2000–2001
  • 11th Grade: 2001–2002
  • 12th Grade: 2002–2003

Graduation Date: May 28, 2003

Statement of Completion: John Doe successfully completed the requirements of Doe homeschool and was awarded a high school diploma on May 28, 2003.

JOHN DOE—COURSES AND CREDITS BY SUBJECT

English Credits: 5
English Grammar: 1 credit
English Literature: 1 credit
American Literature I: 1 credit
American Literature II: 1 credit
Creative Writing and Poetry: 1/2 credit
Journalism I: 1/2 credit

Mathematics Credits: 4
Algebra I: 1 credit
Geometry: 1 credit
Algebra II: 1 credit
Trigonometry: 1 credit

Social Science Credits: 4
American History: 1 credit
World History: 1 credit
American Government: 1 credit
World Studies: 1 credit

Natural Science Credits: 5
Physical Science: 1 credit
Biology: 1 credit
Biology Lab: 1/2 credit
Chemistry: 1 credit
Chemistry Lab: 1/2 credit
Physics: 1 credit

Foreign Language Credits: 2
Spanish I: 1 credit
Spanish II: 1 credit

Total Credits: 20

Homeschool student transcript sample

Transcript proof

Most public, private, and parochial high schools within a state follow a conventional standard for their curricula that is recognized or at least accepted at face value by many colleges and universities because the curricula is usually regulated by the state’s educational department. When college or university counselors see Algebra I, American History, Journalism, or Spanish II (for example) listed on a transcript from a private, public, or parochial school, they assume the course has met the school’s admission requirements. They don’t require additional information to indicate what was taught for each subject or how the student earned the grade for each subject.

However, since homeschools are unconventional in nature, colleges and universities may need help understanding the scope and sequence of the courses a student completed, as well as help with understanding how a student fulfilled the requirements of the course. This is when detailed record keeping benefits both you and your child.

Again, check with each school to determine what they want or need to be certain you are keeping the correct breadth and depth of records. In general, it is better to have more information available to provide a college or university rather than too little information. It is also easier to keep track of this information as your child progresses through high school rather than trying to remember all of it at the end of her senior year.

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress
Fabiola Rodriguez

Fabiola Rodriguez

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress helped me on my journey to get to the school of my first choice by showing me all the options I have. I didn’t know of the College of Southern Nevada until I went on this website, and it helped me look for other choices and compare what colleges would be right for me.

Sonny Harris

Sonny Harris

College Student

For the entire year before college, I spent a lot of time deeply considering what major I wanted to go into and how to fund my higher education. After a lot of research, I came across CollegeXpress, which helped me ultimately find a ton of scholarships for which I could apply—and some of which I received! If it weren’t for CollegeXpress, I may not have found those scholarships as they didn't appear on any other scholarship search forum. Additionally, I learned more about the options I had been considering for my major through CollegeXpress’s resources. In the end, I chose to major in Computer Science, as it seemed best suited to me and the careers in the field seemed enjoyable, and I've never been more excited to move into my future! Ultimately, I want to thank CollegeXpress for offering their services. I received enough financial aid in scholarships to fund my entire freshman year of college and even got some money refunded which I used to purchase a new laptop, and I bought all of the books I needed for the semester!

Rhiannon Teeter

Rhiannon Teeter

$2,000 Community Service Scholarship Winner, 2012

I have spent a lot of time aggressively searching for scholarships. It was a long and frustrating process until I found the CollegeXpress network. This site made my search so much easier. With the simple check of a few boxes, the site sorted out scholarships I was eligible for and led me directly to the correct websites. Winning this scholarship has definitely given me and my family some financial relief, and CollegeXpress has allowed me to improve my chances of winning further financial aid. Thank you so much!

Mataya Mann

Mataya Mann

High School Class of 2022

To say that CollegeXpress is a helpful tool would be an understatement as it is much more than that. Before finding CollegeXpress, all I knew was that I wanted to go to college, it was going to be insanely expensive, and I felt lost. CollegeXpress has given me access to resources such as helpful tips for applications and scholarship [opportunities], and helped guide me in a direction where I feel confident moving forward and pursuing a career. CollegeXpress has helped instill a spark in me that makes me want to continue and supports me in doing so.

Anthony Vidal

Anthony Vidal

High School Class of 2023

CollegeXpress has helped me in a series of different ways when it comes to finding scholarships and learning information about different universities. I actually found my dream university through CollegeXpress and am working on getting there.

College Matches
X

Colleges You May Be Interested In

John Cabot University

Rome, Italy

Trinity Christian College

Palos Heights, IL

Colorado State University

Fort Collins, CO