Calculating high school credits is one of the responsibilities of homeschooling parents. Each homeschool needs to determine what counts as a high school credit and how it will be listed on the homeschool transcript. This article explores three different approaches for determining credits. Your homeschool may use one of these methods or a combination of approaches.
Method One: The Carnegie Unit
You may not have heard of the Carnegie Unit approach to calculating credit, but if you attended public school, you have experienced it. A Carnegie Unit uses time in class as the basis of calculating a high school credit. The figures vary from 120 to 150 hours of “seat time.”
Many states require 180 days of school. On the traditional schedule, courses meet five days a week for fifty minutes, adding 120 hours over 30 weeks. A full one year course on this schedule is a one credit course. A half year or elective course that meets on this schedule will typically be worth a half credit. Examples of full year one credit courses are Algebra II, U.S. History, and Biology. Examples of typical half year, half credit courses are Geography, U.S. Government, and Creative Writing.
Calculating credits using Carnegie Units requires careful bookkeeping. Students and their parents must log the time students spend on each subject. That time could include various tasks, including reading, watching lectures, writing, completing assignments, working on projects, reviewing, discussing, taking tests, and watching lectures.
The upside of this approach is that it can help keep students on track with their work. Motivation can be a struggle for some adolescents, and using the neutral method of tracking hours may provide parents with a concrete tool to measure the amount of time students spend on schoolwork. The downside of Carnegie Units for many families is that this kind of bookkeeping can be tedious and make learning seem more like a chore. Making learning about time on task is inconsistent with the values of most homeschooling families.
Calculating homeschool credits using Carnegie Units may also be poorly suited for the needs of students who learn particularly quickly or slowly. Also, most homeschool high school students find that the seat time required for different subjects varies widely. Most homeschoolers appreciate the flexibility to devote more time to subjects that require more time and less to subjects that are easier for the student.
Method Two: Mastery of Content
In this approach, the homeschool teacher chooses a list of topics that must be studied and content that must be mastered. When this content has been mastered, the course can be counted for credit. There are several ways to arrive on a list of concepts that must be mastered. For more straightforward courses such as geometry, it can be as simple as choosing a textbook and using the publisher’s materials to create a list of topics that must be learned. Online courses will often have clearly spelled out learning objectives and an evaluation method (such as tests or assignments).
If you are not using a straightforward textbook or established course, you may seek out other resources to establish that the material covered is adequate for a high school course. Some homeschoolers find it helpful to look at course descriptions from public or private schools in their area to get an idea of what is typically covered in a course on a particular topic. State educational standards may also give expectations for the material required in core academic courses.
Mastery of content can also be established by assessing students through discussion, papers, homework completion, or testing. Some homeschoolers use tests such as CLEP or AP to provide an official way to measure whether a student has mastered the content. Subject testing can help demonstrate to college admissions offices that the student has mastery of the material they have studied. While testing can be useful if it is required for every subject, it quickly can become a burden for many students. Testing for everything can be time-consuming and expensive.
The upside of this mastery approach is that it emphasizes learning material rather than just putting time on task. The downside is that it requires initial effort to determine content requirements and to decide what method will be used to validate the student’s work. This method of homeschooling may also require some adaptation if mastery goals are not met and the school year is over.
Method Three: Meeting Learning Objectives
The final method for determining high school credit is especially well suited for independent studies or self-directed learning projects. In this approach, the student and parent work together to determine what will be required to earn a high school credit in a particular subject. The requirements might include reading a particular number of books, creating a website, producing a film, or writing a research paper. Engaging students in planning their learning helps encourage homeschoolers to develop responsibilities that will serve them as lifelong learners.
The learning objectives method can be highly flexible. Parents need to decide if they are permitted to revise learning objectives as the year progresses in their homeschool. If the student becomes particularly engaged in a certain aspect of the subject they are studying, can the learning objectives be adjusted? Families should also decide if both parent and child will participate in deciding on objectives and whether they have been achieved. As families decide on learning objectives, considering how this information will be presented in homeschool documents during the college admissions process makes sense. College admissions expects homeschoolers to be able to explain their learning approach and show some outside validation for the transcript.
State Law
It is important to note that every state has different requirements and laws for high school credits. As your child enters high school, check the website for your state Department of Education and make sure you are following the individual requirements in your state. Look at state requirements for graduation and completion of honor diploma tracks if your state offers them. State requirements will indicate the expectations for completion of credits within different subject areas and the level of mastery of content in subject areas. Most homeschoolers consider the state requirements the “floor,” not the “ceiling.” They set the minimum standard for students in your state, but if your student is college bound, expect they will exceed these base expectations.
Bottom Line
Homeschoolers have a great deal of flexibility in creating a credit system that works for their family. It is important to consider your family’s homeschooling objectives and philosophy as you make decisions about homeschooling high school. Whatever you decide, it is important that you are prepared to discuss your approach within your homeschooling documents, including your school profile. Also, as you calculate high school credits, also keep in mind colleges’ expectations.
Hi. First of all, your website is very helpful. Thank you so much for all this information. I have one question: My son is in the 8th grade right now. He’s taking a college level music theory class with a tutor at our local university, and he’s going to receive a grade for the work he’s done this year. Since this is a college level course, could I add it to his high school transcript and give him one credit towards an elective course? Would I add 8th grade to the transcript with the one class/credit, if so? Thank you so much.
Hi Shelli,
Yes, 100% it is fine to add this college course to your transcript. If it is an official college course (registered with the college, receiving an official grade) then that college transcript will also need to be admitted during admissions. If he’s just informally auditing, then there won’t be a college transcript. In either situation it is appropriate to add it to your homeschool transcript and give it one credit as an elective course. Even though it is being taken in 8th grade, it is still appropriate to include it on a high school transcript – you can list HS and college level work taken before HS. I hope that helps.
If my student completed 30 hours of community service during the course of a year, how many credits would that be? Thanks!
Many students will opt to list their community service as an extracurricular activity rather than as a course credit. If you wish to list it as a credit, most often that would be 120 hours – or 60 hours for a half a credit.
Hi, I’m having so much trouble planning my 8th grader’s curriculum.
I looked up graduation requirements for the college in which she would be most interested, but they reference the Indiana Core 40 Academic Honors Diploma which states a child needs ‘2 credits in Algebra 1, 2 in Geometry, 2 in Algebra 2, and an additional 2 credits in a mathematics course of choice.”
If a full year course earns a single credit, how coyld that work? The only thing that makes sense is that they’re counting a semester as a credit.
Any advice or help?
Yes, they are likely counting a semester as a credit. It is the minimum expectation that students take math every year they are in high school. It is common now for students to have completed some high school (such as algebra 1 or geometry) in middle school. In this case those courses can be noted on the high school transcript, but the student should still take a full four years of math during high school.
Hello, thank you for breaking this down! I have a question about calculating credits for integrated programs, such as Classical Conversations, Ambleside Online or Quine’s Worldview course. These are amazing programs that we’ve used and loved, but nothing is neatly separated for transcripts. Even the exams are a combination of all the threads. Does the parent simply assign grades (for the transcript) based on each area? I personally do not mind this, and think integrated is a beautiful way to learn, I just want to make sure it accurately translates to “transcript language”. Thank you for your thoughts on this!
Great question! I understand classical model courses often teach across the curriculum including multiple core subjects. Admissions at many schools may not be familiar with this model, so it is important that the homeschool counselor provides needed information to admissions to understand the student’s education. I suggest a collection of homeschool documents including a transcript, course descriptions including materials lists, and school profile. In most situations it makes sense to translate the courses on the transcript to make clear they cover core subjects. So, for example, if an Ancient World course includes both history and English, it may make sense to separate those out for transcript purposes assigning 1 credit for Ancient History and one for Literature of the Ancient World.
Colleges generally do expect to see grades and it can put homeschoolers at an unfair disadvantage if they submit an ungraded transcript. So, if they are not assigned by the provider, I suggest creating your own expectations for what should be mastered in the course and assigning grades accordingly.
Many of the programs you mentioned are challenging and beyond what is offered in a typical high school. So, it is important to be thoughtful about your documents and give admissions a strong sense of what the student did and learned – so they rigor comes through.