Full Tuition Scholarships for Homeschool Students
Full tuition scholarships - the envy of parents everywhere! We dream of them with stars in our eyes and thoughts of a quality education for our student without the debt in our pockets. It is possible! Read on to see how other families have made that dream a reality.
Full tuition scholarships are merit based, which means they are based on the student's grades, extracurricular activities, leadership skills, and other personal characteristics that show them to be above average.
There are many universities that offer full scholarships, and almost always they are available to homeschool students, as well as students from other educational methods. It's rare to have upper echelon colleges provide full scholarships though, but a bit more common for moderate colleges to lure students in with these great deals.
Some colleges don't offer an officially-named "full tuition scholarship" but will combine various scholarships to provide an equally good deal by mixing and matching sources of aid. Don't discount colleges that don't offer a full tuition, if you know they have an over-all generous financial aid policy.
How can you find these colleges? The best way to find colleges is by attending college fairs and asking questions, and then visiting each college that is interesting, and asking more questions.
In just a few months, a few of my Gold Care Club members have received a full tuition scholarships, or an invitation to full scholarship competitions, at these universities. And, on Facebook, my readers mentioned colleges that they knew of homeschoolers getting full tuition scholarships, many were their own children. Look at this list!
- Campbell University
- College of Idaho
- Gardner-Webb University
- George Fox University
- John Brown University
- Southwest Baptist University
- Northwest University
- Seattle Pacific University
- University of Louisiana - Monroe
- Whitworth University
- Georgia Tech
- University of Alabama (Honors College)
- University of Tennessee
- Lawrence Tech University
- Auburn University
- University of Alabama - Birmingham
- Oklahoma City University
- Northern Arizona University
- Arizona State University
- Liberty University
- Hampton University
- Grove City University
- Union University
- Regent University
- NE Alabama Community College
- University of Houston (Honors College)
- Oakland University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio University
- Campbellsville University
- Asbury University
- Lee University
- Anderson Unversity
- Eastern University
- US Coast Guard Academy
- Hanover College
- University of Georgia
- University of Toledo, Ohio
- University of Cincinnati
- Northern Kentucky University
- University of Kentucky
- University of Central Florida
- University of Florida
- Florida State University
- Utah State University
- Baker College
- Berry College
- Syracuse University
- Cleveland Institute of Music
- Lake Michigan College
- Cal Lutheran
- Pepperdine University
- University of Memphis
- Bob Jones University
- University of South Carolina
- Maryland University
- University of Alaska
- University of Missouri - Warrensburg
- College of the Ozarks
- Western Kentucky University
- Otterbein University
- Marquette University
- Tiffin University
- Mercer University
- Samford University
- Grand Canyon University
- University of Michigan
- University of Mobile
- Troy University
- University of Southern Mississippi
- Florida Southern University
- University of Western Florida
- University of Wyoming
- Wichita State University
- The Citadel
- Bowen School of Law
- University of Iowa
- Dallas Baptist University
- Bryan College
Here is a first-person look from homeschoolers with advice on what made the different in scholarships for their family.
I attended the North Carolina Homeschool Conference several years ago when you were speaking. My daughter was just beginning High School and I felt lost. You were wonderful! I left the conference feeling energized and encouraged. I read your books, watched your Youtube videos and your online classes. I can't tell you how often we used your advise in Dual Enrollment, college visits, transcripts, applying for scholarships, etc. I felt like you were walking beside us through it all. My daughter applied early her Junior summer (last year) to her #1 college choice (Liberty University) and was accepted right away. Then she applied to the Honor's Program early and was accepted right away. She received multiple academic scholarships and then received the Valedictorian Scholarship this summer which is a four year, full tuition scholarship. We are elated and thanking God for your wisdom and encouragement to homeschoolers. Without your guidance I'm not sure the results would have been as amazing. I pass along your website and information to as many homeschoolers as I can. God Bless you Lee! And thank you so much for ministering to our family!
Tracy
During the first webinar of yours that I ever joined when my daughter was a freshman, I learned that your sons received full tuition scholarships to their top choice university. I asked myself "Could this seriously become a reality for us?" In the fervent hopes that it could, I devoted months of my time to capturing our daughter's amazing high school education. I closely followed your advice from webinars, the Total Transcript Solution and Comprehensive Record Solution, and e-books on how to how to best piece her educational picture together. It paid off! Our daughter just learned that she was awarded a full tuition scholarship to her top choice university, too! A thousand thanks to you and the help that you so graciously provide!
Kristin
I ran across a story in an article that referenced how much Lee Binz had helped with homeschooling high school, so I decided to give her a call. She had a special Gold Care Club membership which included access to all her resources (transcripts, course descriptions, forms, "how to" articles, blog, etc.), a special email address with immediate response, and a 20-minute phone consultation with her once a week to pick her brain about any questions or concerns I might have. I decided to take advantage of that since I could not rely on myself to remember anything about what I read in her articles or heard on her webinars. I downloaded everything she offered regarding high school credits, transcripts, extra curricular activities, etc., and I organized them in folders on my computer where I could access them at any given time. This was an invaluable asset to me during our 4 years of high school! Lee gave me access to links for all her resources that I needed to prepare for my daughter's Freshmen year. She also had a form that detailed what I needed to do during each subsequent year of high school (subjects to consider, standardized tests to take with website addresses, when to apply for college scholarships, when to send transcripts, etc.), and during any given year would also point me to what I needed to read and download to prepare for the next year. Then, when I started doing my daughter's transcript, college applications, scholarship applications, college visits, scholarship interviews, etc., I was constantly emailing Lee for advice and information. And, she never failed me!
Jean
As a result of my Gold Club Membership, the following is what my daughter was able to achieve even though she graduated when she was 16 years old: she applied to 7 colleges and only had to pay 3 applications fees, she only had to write one application essay, she was accepted to all 7 universities with scholarships, she was offered 2 full tuition scholarships and she was awarded 2 private scholarships. Thanks again so much for your help all of those years!
Thanks for all the help! Big Scholarship money just came in! I have been following you for almost 8 years now, since my oldest child was in middle school. I've purchased programs from you, read your newsletters and blog posts, and attended numerous online workshops and the occasional transcript-making pajama party. I am now getting ready to graduate my third child from my homeschool. Each of my first three children has taken a different path to "What's Next." Thanks to your helpful advise, I have felt well equipped to assist each of them to move forward in their own personal goals. Child #1 Goal: College as quickly and cheaply as possible so she could get on with what she really wanted to be doing (writing). Applied for (and won) community scholarships using academic records I created using the Total Transcript Solution, CLEP'd and AP'd like mad, and College Plus. Child #2 Goal: Bible College. We visited them early and in person (based on your advise to) and quickly eliminated several that had looked good on paper. He's now at one he loves, partially paid for with community scholarships he won (see sister's story above). Child #3 Goal: getting advanced foreign language training (ah, delight-directed learning) that wasn't available in my small, rural community led to Running Start at age 15 (largely online, and with a heads-up about the possible adult nature of the environment).
Lin
Thanks to what I had learned from you (stuff in middle school might count for high school too--keep track), when she surprised me with this decision, I was able to pull together records indicating her junior status (a year earlier than I had planned), and get her into the program. Child #3 will be finishing her AA this spring. Following your advice, we were on top of SAT tests the previous year, and applying to universities early last fall. This week, she got a letter indicating the college of her choice was awarding her its highest scholarship: 4-years full tuition, plus $5,000 a year for housing, plus (as her little brother keeps pointing out) an IPAD. Thank you for being such a large part of our success. Three down, one to go! My God continue to bless your efforts!
Thank you so much for all the help you have given me over the past years. I really appreciate you and your advice. On Saturday, I graduated my youngest child who will be heading off to Liberty University in the fall. What a blessed journey it has been and you have been a big part of the success we have experienced. I am an organized person but your help in staying on top of deadlines was invaluable as well as advice about testing, college credits and transcripts. My daughter completed her 3rd year at Liberty this year and has been on a full tuition scholarship. What a blessing it will be for her to graduate with no student debt! And she will be graduating in December, a semester early because of the college credits she earned in high school through CLEP and community college. Knowledge I gained from you helped us to do this! Thank you again. I appreciate you and all you do. Anytime I have nervous moms coming and asking me questions about homeschooling high school, I direct them your way and they are very thankful.
Kathy
Today I spoke with our admissions adviser at College of Idaho. She was quite impressed with the homeschool records I submitted with the application. Sam applied through the Common App, but as his high school counselor, I elected to complete his records manually and send through the mail, thus allowing me to send a complete package which I had designed, thanks to you and the Comprehensive Record Solution, which I purchased last year. I had an 80-page booklet spiral bound professionally including the following: school profile, transcripts, complete class descriptions for everything he has taken since 9th grade, reading lists for each school year, awards and activities lists, as well as sample work including a couple essays and a formal lab report. The adviser was thoroughly impressed, and wanted to be sure to let me know the efforts were not unnoticed, and truly helped see Sam holistically. She said they NEVER get records with such detail and so professionally packaged from homeschool students. Just from his application and the records sent, she has recommended he be accepted into their Honors program, as well as qualify for the Heritage Scholarship, a full tuition scholarship. She explained how the scholarship works. All the admissions counselors nominate their best candidates based on test scores, GPA, AND extracurricular activities and their whole package.
Lori
Sam super-scored a 1400 on his SAT, and his current GPA is 4.0, including his college courses. He scored high on his SAT mainly due to the private SAT prep class he attended, which was a worthwhile investment of about $1000. It is paying back now with the scholarships he is being automatically awarded, and also the full tuition scholarships he is being invited to, which to date is 5 different schools: George Fox (in Oregon), Seattle Pacific University, Northwest University, and Whitworth (in Washington), and College of Idaho. Yes, I'm a proud mom, but I couldn't do it with YOUR support and advice!
I guess what I'm trying to say is that REAL homeschool families get REAL full tuition scholarships to the best-fit college for their child. And, these families all have a unique path to get to those scholarships, as they translated their normal, natural homeschool experiences into the grades and numbers that colleges understand.
If you need some help knowing where to start, this is a free beginner class on full tuition scholarships to get you going in the right direction!
These are the resources these parents have found most helpful.
Do you have a story of your own to tell? Do you know a homeschool student who has gotten a full tuition scholarship? Please share!
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Comments 4
Thank you so much for sharing this article. It would also be cool if you provided links to the sites of these universities where their scholarships are mentioned. I hope that you will continue doing this type of content.
Lee often talks about how universities vet students for scholarships. That's why creating a Comprehensive Record is SO important. There are as many scholarships available as there are students to use them. (Clearly, not all are full scholarships.) Each student must investigate scholarships that "fit" their accomplishments, academic achievements and activities. Links often change, but thankfully each of the schools listed above can be found easily by an internet search. You can find out more about scholarships for homeschooled students here: Homeschool Scholarships for College
Thank you for mentioning that Julia.
Blessings,
Lee
The University of Washington has created the Homeschool Advocacy Project Scholarship. To qualify for the $1,000 award, candidates must have earned a homeschool high school diploma, be accepted for full-time enrollment.