Student TAP Coach - Home Schooling

If you have been home schooled, you must meet one of the same criteria — high school diploma, high school equivalency diploma, or passing score on an approved ability-to-benefit test -- to be eligible for State student financial aid as do those students who attend public high schools. However, home schooled students do not receive a high school diploma that is acceptable for financial aid purposes as only public and registered non-public schools in New York State are permitted by Education Law to award diplomas.

Therefore, if you were home schooled, you must demonstrate your eligibility for financial aid in one of the following ways:

• Obtain a letter from local school district officials confirming that you have received an education “substantially equivalent” to instruction given to students graduating high school in the public schools;
• Take and pass the GED test; or
• Achieve a satisfactory score on an approved ability-to-benefit test.

Obtain additional information on home schooling from the New York State Education Department.