Homeschool School Profile Template: What to Include for College Applications

What the School Profile Does

Every traditional high school sends a School Profile to colleges alongside student applications. It gives admissions officers institutional context: student body size, curriculum offerings, grading scale, AP availability, college matriculation rates. Without it, a transcript is just numbers without a framework.

Your homeschool needs the same thing. The School Profile tells admissions officers how your school operates — not what your student accomplished (that's the transcript and counselor letter), but how you structured the educational environment that produced those results.

On the Common App, the School Profile is uploaded as a PDF attachment within the School Report section of the counselor portal. It's a 1–2 page document, formatted professionally, that you create yourself.

The Six Sections That Matter

1. School Identity and Contact Information

Start with your homeschool's name, the administrator/counselor name (you), mailing address, phone number, counselor email, and CEEB code 970000. This mirrors exactly what a traditional high school profile shows at the top. Use the same homeschool name that appears on your student's transcript and diploma.

2. Educational Philosophy and Methodology

One to two paragraphs explaining your educational framework. Classical, STEM-focused, literature-based, eclectic, Montessori-inspired, unschooling — whatever accurately describes your approach. Don't write an essay. Admissions officers want a quick orientation, not a manifesto.

Keep it honest about your actual approach rather than dressing it up in institutional language. If you combined co-op classes with self-study and online courses, say that. If your philosophy emphasizes student-led inquiry, explain what that looked like in practice.

3. Curriculum and Instructional Sourcing

List the educational providers and methods used across the high school years. This is the section that turns "homeschooled" from a black box into a transparent educational program. Include:

• Community college dual enrollment (name the institution)
• Online course providers (Johns Hopkins CTY, Art of Problem Solving, Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, etc.)
• Co-op or seminar programs
• Self-designed independent study courses
• Tutors or specialized instructors

4. Grading Scale and Credit Definition

Define what a credit means in your school and how grades are determined. The standard approach: one high school credit equals a minimum of 120 Carnegie hours of instruction, or one semester college course of 3–4 credit hours.

State your grading scale explicitly (A = 90–100%, B = 80–89%, etc.) and whether you use weighted or unweighted GPA. If dual enrollment courses carry the issuing institution's grades while parent-taught courses use your own rubric, say so.

For class rank, state that due to the single-student environment, class rank is reported as "None." Note that rank 1 of 1 is assigned only when a platform or institution mandates a selection.

5. Testing and External Benchmarks

Summarize standardized testing completed: SAT, ACT, AP exams, CLEP, CLT. You don't need to list scores here (those go on the application), but name the exams taken. If your student completed college coursework, note the cumulative college GPA and credit hours.

This section exists to show admissions officers that your student's academic record has been measured against external standards, not just internal ones.

6. State Compliance Statement

One sentence describing how your homeschool meets your state's secondary education requirements. For Texas applications, Texas Education Code § 51.9241 addresses how public higher education institutions treat homeschool education; it does not establish the homeschool's compliance requirements. College documentation requirements vary: SUNY and CUNY, for example, require proof of secondary education completion.

Formatting Rules

• PDF format, always. Never submit a Word document or plain text
• 1–2 pages maximum. One page is fine for most families
• Professional layout: clean fonts, clear section headers, adequate margins
• No photos, decorative borders, or curriculum logos

The profile should look like an institutional document, not a family newsletter. Admissions officers process thousands of these — visual clarity matters.

What to Leave Out

Don't repeat content that belongs in other documents. The student's personal achievements and character go in the counselor letter. Detailed course syllabi and reading lists go in the course description packet. The grading methodology narrative goes in the Homeschool Supplement fields on the Common App.

The profile is the institutional backdrop. It answers "what kind of school is this?" not "what kind of student is this?"

The United States Homeschool College Application Kit includes a ready-to-edit School Profile template with all six sections pre-formatted, plus a completed sample profile you can reference while building your own.

See more United States guides →