All the Resources You Need to Graduate Your Homeschool Student – for FREE!

(This article was originally published in February 2019. Links and information were updated in February 2025.)

If you’re homeschooling a high school student, you’re probably aware that you’re eventually going to need some basic tools to help your child receive credit for all of their hard work (and yours!).

Looking for the needed documentation and trying to know where to start can feel a bit scary and overwhelming! But I promise that once you know what to do, it’s a pretty simple and straightforward process.

My daughter and I spent some time looking around online and found great resources to use in our own home. We want to share them with you to help take you through the entire process of having everything you need for your homeschool student to graduate – for FREE!

Special Note: Dual enrollment information is weaved throughout most sections, so if that’s something you’re considering, read the full article!

A Note About the GED

Before we get started with resources you do need, I want to talk about the GED for just a minute, because a lot of homeschool moms have asked me about it.

If your child did not complete graduation requirements, a GED may be a good option. Keep in mind, however, that a GED is generally for people who did not complete high school, and many potential employers will value a diploma over a GED when they’re looking at a resume.

If you’re considering a GED because you’re concerned that you don’t have “official” documentation, then have your child take an annual standardized test like the CAT. You can also sign them up for the SAT or ACT (or both!). But, keep in mind that a homeschool diploma you issue is just as valid as something issued by a public or private school!

If your child has done the work to receive a diploma, don’t be scared of the process! That’s why I’m here today!

And, if you’re not sure if some of their work “counts,” please keep in mind that there are a lot of ways to learn a subject, and not all of those ways include textbooks. We want everything on their transcript to be true, accurate, and earned, but definitely be willing to think creatively about all the ways your child learns particular topics.

Testing and Documentation

You’re the homeschool administrator, so you are the boss of what you do in your homeschool! But, since you’re here seeking my advice, I’ll tell you my opinion, as a second-generation homeschool mom who has already graduated my oldest daughter from homeschool!

I recommend having an ACT Score along with a transcript & diploma for your homeschool graduate. The needed documentation could vary depending on which college your child attends (if they’re going to college), but these are a going to be plenty for most post-high school options.

If your homeschool child struggles with the ACT or just doesn’t want to sit silently in a classroom for several hours, look into the CLT, either in addition to or instead of the ACT. Over 250 schools accept the CLT instead of the ACT, and many homeschool students do better on the CLT. It takes less time to complete, can be taken at home, and is more tailored for a classical-style education than the ACT. My oldest daughter didn’t take this, but my current high schooler plans to take the CLT!

Scholarship Tips

I’m not going to talk much about scholarships in this post because I don’t want to overwhelm you, but I am going to offer a few tips for you to keep in mind!

My daughter was accepted to all seven colleges she applied to, with scholarship offers to all of them, including multiple full tuition offers. The ACT, diploma, and transcript were all the documentation she needed!

We learned that we do NOT need to pay a ton of money for a quality education! I studied the college website scholarship pages for every school she was interested in to find out what she needed to do to receive their scholarships. I used Google. I asked friends who had walked this path a year or two before us, so we could receive up-to-date information on any scholarship processes. 

Something we learned in this process was that if the student earns Dual Enrollment credits in high school, they will be eligible for freshman scholarships even if they are technically starting college as a sophomore or junior due to the amount of credits they have.

We learned that Gap Years don’t negatively affect school scholarships (at least for the seven places she applied!). We also learned that if the student takes any college courses during their gap year, they are considered a transfer student, not an incoming freshman, and that can negatively affect scholarships.

If your child is going directly into the work force after high school, he or she will likely just need a diploma, but if they ever change their mind and want to go to college later, it’s good to have the transcript already finished and the ACT taken.

Colleges often base their scholarship offers on the student’s ACT score & GPA, so that’s where you’ll want to focus your energy. Most colleges have basic course requirements for admission, but as long as the basic classes high school requirements are on the transcript, they often don’t care very much about which specific courses were taken or how the material was learned.

Another surprising fact (at least to me!) was that state schools aren’t necessarily less expensive than private schools, because many private schools have tremendously better scholarship packages. So, don’t take the tuition page at face value! This is where doing our research really paid off!

Call the colleges your child is interested in, or look on their school website, to find out any specific requirements they have!

Record-Keeping & Credits

Keeping good records as you go will make everything else we’re going to talk about really easy to accomplish!

But, if your child is a senior and you haven’t kept good records, don’t despair – you can still put a solid transcript together! Start by reading Joan’s incredibly helpful & thorough post about adding up what classes your child has taken, then come back to this article to see what to do next!

If your high school student isn’t a senior, be proactive with some FREE planners and record keepers:

• This FREE downloadable gradebook & attendance chart by Five Js is a great one that I’ve successfully used in my own home!
• The printable homeschool & household planner pages from The Homeschool Mom is a very comprehensive planner and record keeper.
• The digital homeschool planner with a transcript template from The Homeschool Mom is another very comprehensive FREE option.

Even though you are not required to have the same classes as public schools, I highly recommend meeting or exceeding the college prep graduation requirements in your area, just to keep the doors open for your child.

To know what those requirements are, simply google for “(your state) graduation requirements” and make notes of what shows up on a .gov site! If you’re feeling confused about the .gov graduation requirements, ask around for clarification.

Transcripts

As a homeschool graduate who made my own high school transcript, graduated my oldest child from homeschool, and currently have a homeschooled high schooler, I’ve found that I much prefer the transcript to be categorized by subject instead of grade. This way, if a particular class takes more or less than a standard school year, it’s easy to keep the transcript clean and simple.

After looking at a bunch of options, my daughter and I chose this FREE transcript template over at servingdaytoday.com – it’s clean, simple, easy to use, and it looks very nice! Since it’s not necessary to have ACT and SAT scores on a high school transcript, you can simply delete or edit those lines if you don’t want to include test results.

I edited the test-score section of the above transcript to mention extra-curricular information, like Beta Club, Mission Trips, etc. because I spoke with a mom who had graduated 5 of her 6 kids, and she said, “I would also add a section on volunteer experience, as well as outside accomplishments and awards [to the transcript]. This is valuable in showing that your graduate is well-rounded. Also, I was surprised that when my eldest son joined the Marines, they were as interested in his diploma as his transcripts. And he was 2 years into college at this point, so encourage those moms to keep their child’s High School records!”

Bonus Tip: If your child has received any credits from a public or private high school, just edit the starred section near the bottom to write, “Transfer credit received from (school name & address).” You can also do this for Dual Enrollment credits, plus you can weigh Dual Enrollment credits on a 5.00 scale to help boost their overall GPA!

GPA Calculator

Unless every class your child takes is exactly 1 credit on a 4.00 scale, calculating the GPA can get a little tricky, so I recommend utilizing this free GPA calculator. It was incredibly easy to use!

If you have anything below 1 credit, you can just type it into the space, re: 0.5 or 0.25 . I didn’t bother listing class names, and it gave me the GPA plus the number of credits earned. Very handy!

Bonus Tip: You can click the little tabs at the top of the calculator to calculate grades, too! And don’t forget to weigh Dual Enrollment or AP credits on a 5.00 scale! I have a weighted GPA and an unweighted GPA listed on the transcript.

Diploma

There are so many diploma options out there!

You can find great FREE templates to make your own diploma, like these ones on Canva, but I personally really like the professional-looking diplomas from homeschooldiploma.com and they start out at just $33.99!

You can add fun things like wallet sized diplomas, tassels in your choice of color, cap & gown, etc. but of course those are all optional! Add as many or as few of the items as you want, but have fun looking over all the choices!

Bonus Tip: You can back-date diplomas, so if your student has already graduated, you can still create the diploma and have it mailed to him or her as a very special surprise for a job well done! I actually did this for myself in 2019 and the rep at homeschooldiploma.com was so kind in answering my questions!

Cap and Gown

You can find reasonably priced caps, gowns, and tassels on Amazon in a ton of color options! My daughter selected a teal one, and she wore her cap & gown for a few of her senior photos and her graduation ceremony with fellow homeschoolers (we let all the graduates choose their own colors).

Of course, purchasing a cap and gown is completely optional! One of the students wore her mom’s cap & gown from her college graduation. My daughter wore her aunt’s Beta Club stole in addition to the cords I ordered from homeschooldiploma.com. If you don’t have a cap & gown stored away somewhere, then ask around. There will likely be a family member or friend who will gladly lend their cap and gown to your graduate!

I love having these photos and my daughter felt very official in her graduation attire! It was a fun way to honor her for her accomplishments. But, you don’t have to do a cap & gown at all, so if you and your child don’t want to bother, then feel free to skip it! 

Conclusion

I hope this resource guide has been helpful to you! Save it for future reference, and share it in your homeschool groups and with your homeschool mom friends.

If you know of any additional FREE or very frugal helpful resources for homeschool graduates, please share them in the comments! You can also comment with any questions, and I will do my best to answer them!

Other Homeschool Posts You Might Enjoy

• Curious about a homeschool graduate’s thoughts? I spill the beans about my own homeschool journey in this post.
• Shouldn’t our kids be salt & light? Find out why I think homeschooling often allows for more opportunities than private or public institutions to be just that.
• Simplify Your Homeschool Routine video masterclass – for the mom who’s driving herself mad with worry about possibly ruining her kids.
• 5 books that will help you slow down, savor time with your kids, and rediscover your love of homeschooling.

I’d love to hear: What resources have been helpful to you as you prepare for your child’s graduation? Or, if you’re a homeschool graduate yourself, what do you think homeschool moms need to know? Tell us in the comments!