Home School Records Retention & Diplomas FAQs

Student records are not needed from the conventional school which the student previously attended. The only student record needed to begin the new home school is the student's immunization record.

Please note: If the student completes courses at a high school and/or community college, the chief administrator should request a transcript to merge the data with the home school transcript for graduation credit/course requirements.
 

The chief administrator of the home school must design and maintain all transcripts for all students in the home school, specifically those who graduate from the home school.

Whenever a former home-schooled student is presented for enrollment at a conventional school (public or non-public) or college, that educational institution will probably request a student transcript/record of grade levels successfully completed, subjects taught, semester grades, nationally standardized test scores, etc., while enrolled in the home school.

All such information is provided solely by the chief administrator of the home school - not by state or local government officials. North Carolina law states that a home school is a non-public school.

When a student successfully completes his/her non-public school's academic requirements for high school graduation, the non-public school itself (not a government agency) maintains academic records of the student's high school academic work and issues student transcripts and graduation verifications in future years as requested.

State government provides no student graduation verifications for non-public school graduates (whether from a private K-12 or a home school) nor does it maintain or keep student academic records or transcripts - only records concerning the legal existence of such schools.

For this reason, chief administrators of home schools, which have graduated high school seniors, are strongly encouraged to permanently retain student transcripts reflecting all the student's grade 9-12 academic work.  The transcript must include: 

• The home school name, address and telephone number
• Social Security number of student
• Titles of subjects completed by the student by school year (for each of those four years)
• The numerical (or letter) grade and unit credit earned for each subject
• Annual nationally standardized test scores
• The month and year of high school graduation
• Signature of the chief administrator and date of signature

Please note: If a transcript is used for identification purposes at the NC DMV, the transcript must have everything listed here for the transcript to be accepted for identification purposes.

If the student is academically gifted and has successfully mastered some traditional high school level courses prior to grade 9, those courses should be so noted on the transcript as having been taken in grade 8, 7, etc.

Remember that the student may need a copy of his/her high school transcript many years after graduation - perhaps even after the home school administrator has deceased. Copies of transcripts should be maintained indefinitely.
 

No. We do not collect, nor maintain, student records of any kind. If you need a copy of a homeschool transcript or diploma, you will need to contact that home school administrator.

The form is available for downloading.

Yes.  G.S. 115C-564 requires home schools to elect to operate under either Part 1 or Part 2 of Article 39 and then to meet the requirements of that elected Part (with a few stated exceptions).

Both G.S. 115C-548 and G.S. 115C-556 require that each non-public school ". . . shall make and maintain annual attendance and disease immunization records for each pupil enrolled."  

In addition, G.S. 115C-549 and G.S. 115C-557 both require the making and maintaining of nationally standardized test result records for each enrolled student. G.S. 115C-553, G.S. 115C-561 and G.S. 115C-563(b) empowers DNPE to ". . . inspect certain records under this Part . . ." (implying more than one, but not all three types).

G.S. 130A-155(b) empowers state and local health inspectors to review the student immunization records.

The inspection of home school student attendance records is vital in determining if the home school is "operating on a regular schedule . . . during at least nine calendar months" as required by G.S. 115C-548 and G.S. 115C-556.
 

No. The law does not mandate that a particular form be used for student attendance recordkeeping.

The chief administrator of the home school.  No state or local government agency maintains or provides such information.

If the home school administrator is no longer able to provide this verification, the home school graduate should consider either obtaining a GED or enrolling in the North Carolina Adult High School Diploma Program administered through a local NC Community College.
 

The North Carolina home school laws apply only to schools enrolling students of compulsory attendance age. Post high school age persons (anyone 18 and over) may, however, obtain their high school diplomas either through the North Carolina Community College adult high school diploma program or through its GED program.

No. The state seal is used only by government agencies of the State of North Carolina.

Public schools and state government agencies are funded by the State of North Carolina. Private K-12 schools and home schools are not. Private sector schools (both conventional and home) design and use their own school seals on official school transcripts and high school diplomas.
 

The State of North Carolina does not issue a diploma for home schooled students. Each non-public school student receives his/hers from the chief administrator of the school in which the student is enrolled which, in a home school setting, would be from the parent/guardian.

Individual colleges, the various branches of the United States military and the business community each determine for themselves to what extent a home school diploma will be officially recognized by these entities. 
 

The records should be kept for a lifetime.

The Chief Administrator and the student(s) should keep a copy of their records.

1. A copy of your home school registration/verification record.
2. A copy of the diploma.
3. A copy of the transcripts (for transcript details - review the home school guidebook, page 17).
4. A copy of the nationally standardized test scores.