What have we accomplished so far?
2001
- We requested and were granted an amendment to the "Ontario Operating Funds Distribution Manual" which now provides funding to universities for students who apply for admission but do not have an OSSD.
- We produced a 49 page report called "Developing Homeschool Admission Policies". In June we presented this to Karel Swift, registrar of the University of Toronto, and Keith Alnwick, registrar of Ryerson Polytechnic University, who were acting as representatives of the Ontario Council of University Admissions.
- This report was also distributed to admissions personnel from various universities during University Fair in Toronto in September. As a result, we were invited to send a speaker to the annual conference of the Ontario Universities Registrars Association (OURA) in February 2002.
- We worked with Leo Groarke of Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford Campus, on their new proposed homeschool admissions policy.
- We met with the registrar and manager of Admissions at George Brown College in Toronto and provided them with information about homeschooling. They expressed a willingness to work with OFTP in lobbying the government to change some policies that affect eligibility of homeschool attendance at colleges.
- A representative of our project met with St. Clair College. As a result, the college instituted an entry policy for homeschoolers.
2002
- In February a representative made a presentation at the annual conference of the (OURA) Ontario University Registrars' Association.
- We contacted and sent a report to all of the colleges in Ontario, hoping to increase awareness of homeschool admissions issues with these schools.
- We contacted financial aid offices across Ontario, with the goals of educating personnel about homeschool admissions and learning about what issues need to be addressed.
- We have been invited to provide feedback to Ottawa University's draft proposal for a new homeschool admission policy, which they hope to make official in the fall of 2002.
We have identified some important issues that need to be addressed:
- the age restriction for college courses which limits the ability for homeschoolers to accumulate a few college level grades for their "transcript".
- access to Advanced Placement tests (AP tests).
- scholarships and financial aid. We are contacting various organizations to determine eligibility for homeschoolers and providing information.
- the age restrictions for the Independent Learning Centre (ILC) and availability of courses that can be accessed online.
Our ongoing research:
Research on Homeschoolers' Attempts to Gain Entrance To College/University
If you have any homeschooled children who have applied (successfully or not) to enter college or university, or know of any other homeschooling families who have experience in this area, please contact us or encourage others to do so. You may fill out our questionnaire*.
The questionnaire is completely confidential. It has helped us identify issues that homeschoolers are facing, colleges/universities that are homeschool friendly (or not), and schools that are granting scholarships to homeschoolers (or not). Please share your stories. The whole community is richer for it.
Higher Education for Homelearners national e-list
This is a forum created to encourage dialogue about the transition of Canadian homeschooled students into post-secondary education. We invite home educating families and anyone with an interest in broadening our understanding of the admissions process in Canada to join and share their knowledge and experience. This list is sponsored by the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents and is part of our ongoing investigation into this issue. To join, send an email to higheredforhomelearners-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
OFTP University Project e-list
One of our e-groups for OFTP members is the oftpuniversityproject e-list, . This list is open to anyone who would like to volunteer or keep informed about OFTP's initiative investigating post secondary education issues after homeschooling in Ontario.
Contact
OFTP Post-Secondary Admissions Project contact: Carlo Ricci, PSAproject@ (add ontariohomeschool.org to complete the email address).
