The purpose of this study was to determine how current admission policies and practices at four-year public institutions of higher education in Virginia are implemented to evaluate home school applicants. University administrators, admission officials, and other interested individuals may gain insight into (a) admission policy implementation and informal practices, (b) anticipated policy revisions or new policy developments, (c) evaluative criteria currently being utilized to evaluate applicants, and (d) current home school application and enrollment trends. An interview protocol was developed and used to conduct interviews with the chief admission officer, or designee, at each of the 15 public institutions. Admission policies, admission requirements and guidelines, undergraduate catalogs, view books, and web sites were examined. Each institution's data were analyzed independently. The major findings revealed that 14 of the 15 public institutions had received home school applications, 13 of the 14 have made offers of admission to home school applicants; however, very few institutions had traced applicant enrollment. Only one institution had a written policy that had been approved through the institution's governance structure. One institution had a verbal agreement and a statement in the undergraduate catalog related to home school applicant's requirements. Three institutions reported recent and on-going discussion and research related to policy development and the evaluation of home school applicants. Five institutions indicated that policy development might be considered should home school applications continue to increase. / Ph. D.

In this study, 94 colleges and universities in Florida were surveyed to determine what their admission policies were for home school applicants. Forty-six colleges responded to the survey. The results of the survey were analyzed to determine if there was a pattern of acceptance based on institution type--public, private, or proprietary. Further, the admission policies were analyzed to determine the extent to which they complied with the National Center for Home Education's (NCHE) recommend college admission policies for home school applicants. The researcher found that public colleges were more likely to accept home school students than were private colleges. Also, public colleges had less stringent admission requirements for home school students than did private colleges. Further, home school admission policies in place in Florida's public colleges were more likely to comply with the NCHE's recommended admission policies for home school applicants. In addition to reviewing college admission policies for home school students, the standardized test scores and grade point averages of home school and public school students enrolled in a Florida, public community college were compared. The standardized test scores compared were the College Placement Test (CPT) and the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT). The researcher found no difference in the mean grade point averages of home school and public school students enrolled in a Florida, public community college. Also, the researcher found no difference in the mean CPT algebra, CPT reading, or SAT mathematics scores of home school and public school students. There was, however, a significant difference in the CPT writing and SAT verbal scores for these two groups of students. Home school students scored significantly higher than public school students on the CPT writing and the SAT verbal tests.