Homeschool Dual Enrollment in Iowa
Yes. Iowa homeschoolers in grades 9 to 12 can take concurrent enrollment college courses through the resident district at no cost, and those under competent private instruction can also use Postsecondary Enrollment Options.
How college courses work for homeschoolers
Concurrent enrollment
These courses come from the district's contract with its community college. Students under competent private instruction (CPI) or independent private instruction (IPI) can take them, and IPI students do not file Form A to do so. Only courses in the contract are free, and the district provides the textbooks on the same basis as for its own students.
Postsecondary Enrollment Options
Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) lets 11th and 12th graders, and 9th and 10th graders the district identifies as gifted and talented, take a nonsectarian course at an eligible college when the district offers no comparable course. A CPI student uses PSEO through dual enrollment. The college cannot charge for tuition, textbooks, materials, or fees for the course; the district pays the college the actual cost or $250 per course, whichever is less.
A CPI student shows college readiness through the supervising teacher's recommendation, the annual achievement evaluation, a PSAT selection index of 141, an ACT composite of 21, or an SAT reading and math total of 990.
Before your child can enroll
Register through the district
Your child registers through the district, not directly with the college; registering directly does not trigger the funding, and the college bills tuition.
Admission requirements
Your child meets both the district's and the college's admission requirements for the course.
IPI limit
A student under independent private instruction may take concurrent enrollment courses but not PSEO, Advanced Placement, or career academy courses.
Enrolling in a college course
First step
Ask your resident district for its list of college courses and its registration steps for a homeschool student.
Course and funding limits
A dual enrolled student cannot take all but one class period of the district's regular day, and concurrent courses count toward that limit. Courses beyond the college's full load, or outside the district's contract, are the family's cost.
What it costs
Under PSEO, a student who fails or does not finish a course repays the district's costs; a parent of a student under 18 signs to accept that. The family provides transportation and pays for up to seven summer semester hours taken for credit.
When to apply
Send Form A by September 1 for a CPI student, then follow the district's own application dates for each program.
A homeschool plan alongside college courses
We teach the subjects your teen takes at home and generate the homeschool transcript from that coursework.
$149/month per child after the trial.