Additional Sources for High School Courses

There are several additional ways your student can take high school level classes and earn high school credit.  Each way needs to be considered carefully, and some may even jeopardize your homeschool’s status.

• Community Colleges: All North Carolina community colleges offer courses free of charge under a dual enrollment program called Career and College Promise. These courses are intended to enable advanced high school students to take college level courses. To qualify, students must be at least a junior in high school, attending high school (public, private or home) and working toward graduation. Learn more in the tab in the menu to the left under “Career & College Promise” and see below.
• Local Colleges: Many colleges and universities allow high school students to take college classes for a fee. Students enter under a dual or concurrent enrollment program. Check with the colleges in your area for availability, requirements and costs.
• Private High Schools: Some private schools allow homeschoolers to enroll in specific courses. Homeschoolers may be allowed to participate in extra-curricular activities and sports.
• Organized Group Classes: Many homeschool parents organize group classes for homeschool students. Sometimes a homeschool parent does the teaching, and other times a specialist is hired. Sometimes parents form a co-op for classes once a week. Each parent takes a role, whether it is teaching or performing other types of service related to the classes.
• Online Classes: There are numerous opportunities to take classes online. These can be both high school classes and college classes which will offer college credit.
• NC Virtual Public School: Homeschool students may enroll in NC Virtual Public School (NCVPS) classes and retain their homeschool status only if their homeschool pays the tuition. If the student takes more than one course through a local school district and if the school district pays the tuition, then the student is a public school student. It is not clear in the NC law is a homeschool student can be dually enrolled in public school.

Career & College Promise

Career & College Promise is a major program in NC for eleventh and twelfth grade high school students to participate in dual enrollment.  Learn more about Career & College Promise.