Summer Scholarship Programs

Home schooled children have the best of both worlds - they can attend summer high school programs abroad or locally, whether they are home schooled full-time or not. Cities across the country are now offering summer scholarship programs for high school students and graduates. Students are eligible for funding while completing their courses at home, as well as after they receive their diplomas. Additionally, home schooled students have the flexibility to extend their summer high school programs abroad, because they are not encumbered by specific school calendar. For instance, knowledge of a foreign language is almost always required for most undergraduate programs, especially if you plan a career in the humanities or sciences. What better way to reinforce whatever you have learned at home in the U.S. with a trip abroad? Now, the catch is, if you are looking for scholarship money, you must be registered in a U.S. college or university, even if the courses you take will not be on U.S. soil.

For example, the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has scholarships available to graduates of its public high schools. However, this does preclude a home schooled child from applying. The funds are made available to state-run universities or the Community College of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia scholarship programs are limited to students in their freshmen year only. The grant awards are calculated after financial aid and outside scholarship money is taken into consideration. However, this does not mean that you are limited to taking a course in Philadelphia. It may be possible to qualify for free summer high school study abroad by attending a school that has an agreement with the Community College of Philadelphia.

If you live in Tallahassee, Florida, scholarship programs are available to students in grades as low as the ninth grade. CARE, (the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement), has established a summer scholarship program that helps youngsters learn about the college application process as well as ways to maximize their financial aid package. These scholarships are offered during the summer and after school. CARE begins to recruit children as early as the sixth grade. They target minority and low-income students from local public schools in Tallahassee, Florida. The scholarship program was initiated by Florida State University in 2000. If your child is home schooled, he or she may still be eligible to attend, especially if they have aspirations of attending college.

As part of their package, FSU will relax its admissions standards for low-income, first-generation students provided the student agrees to participate in the CARE program no later than the summer before entering college. The summer program lasts for seven weeks and helps students learn how to do well on the SAT and ACT exams. Part of the scholarship program includes a weeklong orientation, which is followed by a six-week residence hall experience. Upperclassmen counselors supervise the residence hall.

Similar summer high school programs abroad as well as stateside programs are now being offered all over the U.S., so if you intend to send your child or children to college in the near future, it would be quite beneficial to check into summer scholarship programs in your area or state. Remember, the application process may take a while, so it's best to search for scholarship programs at least a year ahead of time. This is true especially for children who are being home schooled.