Parents homeschooling their high schoolers sometimes find themselves asking the strangest questions . . .

  • Where can I get frogs to dissect?
  • Does NaNoWriMo count as an English elective?
  • Do we have enough homeschool kids in our community to host our own prom?
  • How do homeschooled teens get transcripts? Am I allowed to provide this official document myself?
  • Wait a minute . . . does my teen really need a transcript?

Homeschooling is about providing a quality education in unconventional ways. This is especially obvious when our kids reach high school! And transcripts are no exception.

In this series, we’re covering the what, why, and how of transcripts for homeschooled teens. Even though your student’s transcript won’t be sent from a school guidance counselor’s office, it’s just as official—and just as important.

Does my teen need a transcript?

Yes! Every homeschooled high school student needs a transcript—a concise official record of their high school coursework, summarizing their academic abilities at a glance.

Transcripts aren’t just for college anymore. Your teen may receive a request for their high school transcript not only from colleges, but also from employers, the military, scholarship committees, trade schools, apprenticeship programs, and others. Even your auto insurance company might request a transcript to qualify your teen for a good student driver discount! And these requests can come both during high school and after graduation.

In fact, a transcript can be requested long after graduation! HSLDA has counseled more than a few parents who didn’t prepare transcripts for their teens—and then discovered, many years (sometimes decades) after graduation, that their now-adult former students suddenly needed transcripts for job security clearance, promotion opportunities, enrollment in certification programs, financial aid qualification, and other situations they hadn’t foreseen.

How do homeschooled high schoolers get transcripts?

Just like anything else in homeschooling, parents are ultimately responsible to provide their students’ transcripts.

And there are several ways to do that!

  • If you're an HSLDA member, you can design and print the transcript on your home computer with our members-only form here.
  • You can use a transcript service or software.
  • Or you can enroll your student in an umbrella school, correspondence school, or oversight program that provides transcripts as part of its services. (You can read more about those options here, but keep in mind that you’ll be navigating away from this transcript series.)

If you are homeschooling a teen with special learning challenges, we’ve got tips for customizing their high school transcript here.

PRO TIP: You’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you prepare a transcript for your teen during high school—and start filling it in as soon as your student completes any high school-level courses. Then, it’s easy to simply add new courses and grades to their transcript each year of high school. As a bonus, this gives you plenty of time to polish the transcript along the way rather than scrambling to do so the night before an important deadline!