Homeschool benefits: Lone Star College System
Lone Star College-Online (LSC-Online) charges homeschooled dual credit students a reduced tuition of $43 per credit hour, or $129 for a three-hour class, compared with $333 for in-district students and $747 for other Texas residents. Homeschooled high school students in grades 9-12 qualify through LSC-Online's homeschool route with a transcript, a graduation plan, and qualifying test scores.
Who qualifies
Is a homeschooled high schooler
LSC-Online accepts public, private, and homeschool students. Your homeschool acts as the high school and approves dual credit enrollment. There is no minimum age, but a student under 14 needs approval.
Has a transcript and graduation plan
Submit a homeschool transcript with the graduation date and a graduation plan. Each dual credit class must appear on that plan.
Meets placement scores
Your child shows Texas Success Initiative (TSI) readiness with TSI Assessment, SAT, or ACT scores, plus any course prerequisites. The first TSI test fee is waived.
Takes an eligible course
Dual credit covers Lone Star core curriculum courses except physical education, career and technical courses, and foreign languages. Other courses are college credit only at full tuition. A dual credit student takes at most 18 hours a semester.
What a class costs
Lone Star College's Fall 2025 dual credit tuition and fee schedule, the latest posted, charges $43 per credit hour after the dual credit tuition exemption.
- One class (3 hours)
- $129
- Two classes (6 hours)
- $258
- Three classes (9 hours)
- $387
- Full load (12 hours)
- $516
- Same 3 hours at in-district tuition
- $333
- Same 3 hours at out-of-district Texas tuition
- $747
The posted schedule is for Fall 2025, so ask OL-DualCredit@lonestar.edu for the current term's rate before you register.
From applying to keeping it
- Before you apply
Apply on ApplyTexas
Apply for admission online through ApplyTexas and fill out the Home School Partnership Agreement Request Form.
- Before registration
Meet test requirements
If your child is not TSI exempt, complete the pre-assessment activity, take the TSI Assessment remotely or at a campus, and send official scores.
- Before registration
Send your documents
Upload or email the homeschool transcript, graduation plan, FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) form, and the Dual Credit Course Approval and Parental Consent Form.
- Each term
Let the office register you
Dual credit students cannot register or drop on their own, so the LSC-Online dual credit staff handle both.
- Each semester
Keep a C or better
A grade below C in a dual credit course ends your child's eligibility for the program.
What it pays for
Covered
- Reduced tuition on eligible dual credit courses
- The first TSI Assessment
- Online library, tutoring, and career services
Not covered
- Textbooks and lab fees
- TSI retests at $10 per section
- Remote TSI proctoring at $25 per test
- College credit only courses
Good to know
Homeschoolers enroll through a partnership agreement
LSC-Online has a separate homeschool enrollment process. You sign a Home School Partnership Agreement, and your homeschool supplies the transcript, graduation plan, and course approval a public school counselor would.
Homeschoolers pay $43 per credit hour
Homeschoolers do not get free tuition. Dual credit students pay a reduced rate of $43 per credit hour. Free dual credit under the state's Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program is limited to educationally disadvantaged students at Texas public or open-enrollment charter schools.
Who to contact
The LSC-Online dual credit staff advise homeschool families, collect registration documents, and handle registration and drops.
OL-DualCredit@lonestar.edu Homeschool dual credit steps
Homeschool rules and statewide help in Texas
You do not have to file a homeschool notice to the state.
Texas sets these rules:
- Subjects: Instruction in Texas must include reading, spelling, grammar, math, and good citizenship.
- Testing: No routine annual homeschool standardized test is required. UIL participation and public-school transfer can have separate testing requirements.
- Records: Texas does not require homeschool records, but keeping them is recommended.
- Teachers: Texas does not require homeschool parents to hold a teaching certificate.
Texas also has an education savings account that home-educated students can use.
- The Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) awards $2,000 a year to selected home-education students for approved expenses. Applications for 2026-27 closed March 31, 2026; families who missed that cycle can join the 2027-28 interest list.
Read the Texas homeschooling guide See statewide programs in Texas
Questions parents ask
- Does the reduced tuition include books?
- No. You buy books separately, although LSC-Online offers some Open Educational Resources courses with free or low-cost materials built in.
- Can my child take summer classes?
- Yes. Your child can take up to two courses in each six-week summer session and one course in a May or December mini-term.
- Can I see my child's college records?
- Only with your child's permission or proof of dependency. A signed FERPA form, or a tax return showing your child as a dependent, gives you access.
Turn support into your child’s next lesson
College classes can cover part of high school. We teach the subjects your child needs alongside them, starting at the right level in each subject.
$149/month per child after the trial.
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