North Dakota Homeschool College Admissions: NDSU, UND, and BSC Requirements

Homeschool graduates in North Dakota apply to college without a school counselor, without an official school code, and without a registrar producing records on their behalf. That puts the documentation burden entirely on the family — and the three main in-state universities each have a slightly different checklist. Knowing what each school specifically requires before your student hits senior year makes the difference between a smooth application and a frantic scramble.

What Every ND University Has in Common

Before looking at school-specific requirements, there are baseline expectations that NDSU, UND, and most other North Dakota colleges share.

14 core high school courses. Both NDSU and UND require completion of the following:

• 4 credits English Language Arts
• 3 credits Mathematics (Algebra I or higher)
• 3 credits Lab Science
• 3 credits Social Science
• 1 credit World Language or an additional core subject credit

This is the same framework used for the ND Academic Scholarship eligibility calculation. If you have structured your homeschool high school curriculum around these 14 courses, you are already aligned with what admissions offices expect to see.

Transcript from the parent. In North Dakota, homeschool parents are the issuing authority. There is no state agency that certifies homeschool transcripts. The document you produce carries the same practical weight as a public school transcript — the university admissions office will evaluate it as such. Your transcript needs to show courses listed by grade level, credits earned, final grades, and a calculated GPA.

Test-optional status. Both NDSU and UND are currently test-optional for most applicants. You do not need to submit an ACT or SAT score to be considered for admission. That said, submitting a strong test score can strengthen an application, and some scholarship and honors program eligibility thresholds are GPA-and-test-score based. The absence of a score is not a disadvantage by default, but it shifts more weight onto your transcript, course rigor, and any supplemental materials you submit.

NDSU Homeschool Requirements

North Dakota State University treats homeschool applicants similarly to public school applicants, with one additional documentation step: NDSU requires homeschoolers to submit a detailed course description document alongside the transcript.

GPA requirement: NDSU recommends a 2.75 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. "Recommend" is doing real work in that sentence — it is not a hard cutoff, but applicants below 2.75 may receive additional review or be admitted conditionally.

What the application package should include:

• Parent-issued transcript with courses listed by year, credits, and letter grades
• Course descriptions for each subject — one paragraph per course explaining what curriculum was used, what topics were covered, and how mastery was assessed
• Documentation of standardized test scores if you are submitting them (not required)
• Any extracurricular activity list or portfolio supplement is optional but can add context

GED option. NDSU accepts GED transcripts. If a student took the GED route rather than a parent-issued diploma, the GED transcript satisfies the high school completion requirement.

Application process. Apply through NDSU's standard online application. On the application, select "homeschool" as your school type. NDSU's admissions office will contact you if additional documentation is needed. It is worth calling the admissions office directly before submitting if you have any uncertainty — they are accustomed to homeschool applicants and will tell you exactly what they need.

UND Homeschool Admissions

The University of North Dakota uses nearly identical requirements to NDSU. The same 14 core course framework, the same 2.75 GPA recommendation, and the same test-optional policy apply.

Where UND differs:

• UND's application asks you to self-report your coursework during the application process. Enter each course, grade, and credit in the academic history section.
• UND's admissions office may request a copy of your homeschool curriculum plan or course descriptions as a supplemental document. Having these prepared before you apply saves time.
• UND does not require the SFN 60374 form for admissions purposes (that form is for the ND Academic Scholarship, not college entry). Your parent-issued transcript is sufficient for the application itself.

If your student is applying to the UND School of Medicine, Law, or another competitive professional program, the requirements in those programs supersede general admissions requirements — check each program's specific prerequisites.

Bismarck State College: The Open-Enrollment Option

Bismarck State College operates as a community college under an open-enrollment policy. There is no minimum GPA requirement for general admission to BSC. A homeschool student who does not meet the 2.75 GPA threshold at NDSU or UND, or who wants to start with a lighter course load, can enroll at BSC and then transfer.

What BSC requires from homeschool applicants:

• Proof of high school completion — a parent-issued transcript or diploma is sufficient
• Placement testing for Math and English if you do not submit ACT/SAT scores; BSC uses the ACCUPLACER

Transfer path. Many students use BSC as a bridge — complete general education requirements at BSC's lower tuition rate, build a college GPA, then transfer to NDSU or UND with a college transcript rather than a high school one. By that point, the high school records matter much less.

BSC also participates in the ND Dual Enrollment program, which means your high school-age student may be taking BSC courses before they even officially enroll as a college student.

What Your Transcript Needs to Show

Whether you are applying to NDSU, UND, or BSC, the transcript is the document doing the most work. Here is what it should contain to avoid any admissions friction:

Course listings by academic year. Label each year (9th Grade, 10th Grade, etc.). List every course taken that year, the credit value (typically 1.0 per full-year course), and the final letter grade. Do not bundle multiple courses under vague labels like "Homeschool Curriculum Year 1."

Credit calculation. North Dakota follows the Carnegie Unit standard: 120 hours of instruction per credit for most subjects, 150 hours for lab sciences and CTE courses. If you are asked how you calculated credits, you should be able to point to an hourly log or curriculum structure that supports it.

GPA calculation. Use the standard 4.0 scale: A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0. Weight honors or dual-enrollment courses at 4.5/3.5/2.5/1.5 if you want to apply weighting — but note that weighting is optional, not expected, and some admissions offices will re-calculate an unweighted GPA anyway.

Parent signature and contact information. The transcript should be signed by the parent as the school official, with a contact phone number and address. This establishes the issuing authority.

Course descriptions. NDSU specifically asks for these. Even if UND does not always request them upfront, having a one-paragraph description for each course available is good practice. The description should name the curriculum or resources used, the major topics covered, and how the student was assessed.

ACT and SAT: What ND Colleges Actually Expect

With both NDSU and UND test-optional, many homeschool families wonder whether submitting a test score helps or hurts.

The honest answer: a strong score helps, a weak score submitted voluntarily does not help. If your student scores above the median for admitted students at that school (roughly 22+ ACT for BSC programs, 24+ for general NDSU/UND admission), submitting adds a positive data point. If the score is below that range, exercising the test-optional policy is the correct call.

For merit scholarships specifically, NDSU and UND both have scholarship thresholds that include ACT/SAT criteria. If scholarship money is a priority, check the specific scholarship requirements for each school before deciding whether to sit for the ACT or SAT. The ND Academic Scholarship (the state-funded award worth up to $6,000) has its own separate criteria tied to the SFN 60374 transcript form — see the post on that process for the full breakdown.

Pulling the Documentation Together

The practical move is to start the college prep documentation package early — ideally by 10th grade — rather than assembling it retroactively senior year. That means:

• Maintaining a running course log with hours and grades each semester
• Writing brief course descriptions as you go rather than from memory at graduation
• Aligning your course selection with the 14-core framework NDSU and UND use
• Keeping curriculum records and assessment samples in case an admissions office requests supplemental documentation

If you want a structured system for tracking all of this — credit hours per subject, cumulative GPA, course descriptions, and the SFN 60374 notarized transcript that the ND Academic Scholarship requires — the North Dakota Portfolio & Assessment Templates include the transcript template, credit hour log, and documentation tools built around ND's specific requirements.

Summary

NDSU and UND share the same 14-course core requirement and a recommended 2.75 GPA. Both are test-optional. Bismarck State College is open enrollment with no GPA minimum, making it a practical starting point or bridge for students who want to build a college record before transferring. In every case, the parent-issued transcript is the central document — it needs to be clean, detailed, and supported by course descriptions and a defensible credit-hour calculation.

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