| Home schooled children have the best of both worlds | | | | are available to students in grades as low as the ninth |
| - they can attend summer high school programs | | | | grade. CARE, (the Center for Academic Retention |
| abroad or locally, whether they are home schooled | | | | and Enhancement), has established a summer |
| full-time or not. Cities across the country are now | | | | scholarship program that helps youngsters learn about |
| offering summer scholarship programs for high school | | | | the college application process as well as ways to |
| students and graduates. Students are eligible for | | | | maximize their financial aid package. These |
| funding while completing their courses at home, as | | | | scholarships are offered during the summer and after |
| well as after they receive their diplomas. Additionally, | | | | school. CARE begins to recruit children as early as the |
| home schooled students have the flexibility to extend | | | | sixth grade. They target minority and low-income |
| their summer high school programs abroad, because | | | | students from local public schools in Tallahassee, |
| they are not encumbered by specific school calendar. | | | | Florida. The scholarship program was initiated by |
| For instance, knowledge of a foreign language is | | | | Florida State University in 2000. If your child is home |
| almost always required for most undergraduate | | | | schooled, he or she may still be eligible to attend, |
| programs, especially if you plan a career in the | | | | especially if they have aspirations of attending college. |
| humanities or sciences. What better way to reinforce | | | | As part of their package, FSU will relax its admissions |
| whatever you have learned at home in the U.S. with | | | | standards for low-income, first-generation students |
| a trip abroad? Now, the catch is, if you are looking | | | | provided the student agrees to participate in the |
| for scholarship money, you must be registered in a | | | | CARE program no later than the summer before |
| U.S. college or university, even if the courses you | | | | entering college. The summer program lasts for |
| take will not be on U.S. soil. | | | | seven weeks and helps students learn how to do |
| For example, the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has | | | | well on the SAT and ACT exams. Part of the |
| scholarships available to graduates of its public high | | | | scholarship program includes a weeklong orientation, |
| schools. However, this does preclude a home | | | | which is followed by a six-week residence hall |
| schooled child from applying. The funds are made | | | | experience. Upperclassmen counselors supervise the |
| available to state-run universities or the Community | | | | residence hall. |
| College of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia scholarship | | | | Similar summer high school programs abroad as well |
| programs are limited to students in their freshmen | | | | as stateside programs are now being offered all over |
| year only. The grant awards are calculated after | | | | the U.S., so if you intend to send your child or children |
| financial aid and outside scholarship money is taken | | | | to college in the near future, it would be quite |
| into consideration. However, this does not mean that | | | | beneficial to check into summer scholarship programs |
| you are limited to taking a course in Philadelphia. It | | | | in your area or state. Remember, the application |
| may be possible to qualify for free summer high | | | | process may take a while, so it's best to search for |
| school study abroad by attending a school that has | | | | scholarship programs at least a year ahead of time. |
| an agreement with the Community College of | | | | This is true especially for children who are being |
| Philadelphia. | | | | home schooled. |
| If you live in Tallahassee, Florida, scholarship programs | | | | |