Homeschool Dual Enrollment

Homeschool Dual Enrollment at Coastal Alabama Community College

A step-by-step guide for homeschool families in the Early College Programs

Overview

Coastal Alabama Community College welcomes homeschool students into the dual enrollment program. Homeschool is a recognized participating school category within the Early College Programs, so homeschool students follow the same Alabama Community College System policies as students from partnering public and private schools, with a few documentation steps that are specific to homeschool families.

Homeschool students are accepted into dual enrollment once they can show transcripted completion of the 9th grade. Rather than working through a high school counselor, homeschool students work directly with the Homeschool Advisor in the Office of Early College.

Who Qualifies

To be eligible for dual enrollment, a student must:

Have completed the 9th grade, documented on a transcript
Have a minimum 2.5 unweighted GPA for academic courses, or a minimum 2.0 unweighted GPA for technical courses
Meet minimum ACT English and/or math scores, or appropriate ACCUPLACER placement scores, before enrolling in English or math courses
Complete the Coastal Alabama admissions process, including all required homeschool documentation

Cost and Course Load

Tuition, fees, and textbook rentals are covered by a scholarship provided by the college.

Students may take courses in person at any Coastal Alabama campus, online, or in a hybrid format, and may take as many or as few courses as they are comfortable with, up to a maximum of 18 credit hours.

Semester Deadlines

The online application and all required paperwork must be submitted to the Office of Early College no later than the final deadline for the term.

Students are strongly encouraged to apply at least one week before the deadline so there is time to set up the student's college account, as all required documentation must be submitted via the college email.

Term	Final Deadline
Fall	August 1
Spring	December 1
Summer	May 1

The Homeschool Process, Step by Step

Step 1: Complete the Online Application

The first step is to complete the online dual enrollment application. The student creates the account and applies using their own personal email address, not a parent's address. If the student does not yet have a personal email address, create one before starting the application.

Application Instructions

Step 2: Watch for the Acceptance Letter

The acceptance letter arrives at the personal email address used on the application. It provides the student's Coastal Alabama student number, called the A Number, and the student's college email address. Students should also watch for a separate account claim code sent from noreply@rapididentity.com so they can activate their Alabama account. Please review the Early College Student Guide for more information.

Step 3: Watch for the Homeschool Advisor's Email

Within about two to three business days of the application being submitted, the student will receive an email from the Homeschool Advisor outlining next steps. Students should check the personal email account used to create the application during this window.

Step 4: Set Up the College Email Account

The student must set up and activate their Coastal Alabama email account. This is the alabama.edu account accessed through Outlook in Coyote Hub. From this point forward, all correspondence with the Office of Early College must come from this account.

Step 5: Submit Required Documentation from the College Email

The student sends the required homeschool documentation provided by the Homeschool Advisor from their Coastal Alabama student email. Documents may be scanned or photographed. Documents sent from personal email addresses cannot be accepted.

Step 6: Approval Form, Advising, and Registration

Once the transcript and parent/guardian agreement, if required, have been received and processed, the approval form is sent to the student's Coastal Alabama email. The completed approval form must be signed by a parent or guardian and returned from the student's college email. Early College staff then register the student for classes.

NOTE: Once enrolled in the program, it is the student’s responsibility to submit registration requests by the deadline for each term if they wish to continue participating.

Required Documentation

Every homeschool student must submit the following from their Coastal Alabama student email:

A current high school transcript showing unweighted GPA and current grade level, and documenting completion of the 9th grade
Testing documentation for ACT English and/or math scores, or ACCUPLACER placement results, if enrolling in English or math courses
A signed and completed Dual Enrollment Approval Form and Program Agreement

Independent homeschool students must also submit a signed parent/guardian agreement. Students who are part of a homeschool cover group should notify the Office of Early College of the cover group's name so that requirement can be confirmed.

The College Email Requirement

For identity verification purposes, the Office of Early College cannot accept or process requests sent from personal email addresses. The following must always come from the student's Coastal Alabama alabama.edu account, accessed through Outlook in Coyote Hub:

All required documentation
Approval forms and scheduling requests
Schedule changes, including adds, drops, and withdrawals
Advising appointment requests

Requests must also come from the student rather than a parent or guardian. Students who cannot log in to their college account should contact the Help Desk at (251) 580-4900 or helpdesk@coastalalabama.edu; the student, not a parent or guardian, needs to make that contact.

Advising and Registration

Per Early College policy, advising and registration cannot begin until all required documentation has been received and processed. Once the student's record is complete, the Homeschool Advisor can answer program questions, set up an advising appointment, and help build a schedule. Early College staff complete the actual course registration.

Orientation

Orientation is mandatory for all new Early College students prior to the start term. More information on orientation will be provided by the Homeschool Advisor.

Course Policies and Continued Eligibility

The following college and Alabama Community College System policies apply to all dual enrollment students, including homeschool students:

A student who withdraws from classes or earns a grade of D or lower in any term must serve a term of ineligibility before participating again. A term of ineligibility cannot be served in the summer.
Returning students do not submit a new application. They submit a new approval form for the upcoming year.
A student who has never taken dual enrollment, or who took courses in the fall but not the spring, is considered a new student for the following fall term. A student who took courses in the spring is a returning student for the following fall term.
Students who submit documentation of a qualifying disability and meet course prerequisites will be provided with reasonable accommodations under Section 504 and the ADA. Accommodations at the college are not required to be equivalent to those provided in a secondary setting. More information is available on the college website linked below.

Contacts and Resources

Contact	How to Reach Them
Office of Early College	earlycollege@coastalalabama.edu
Help Desk (account and login issues)	(251) 580-4900 or helpdesk@coastalalabama.edu
Main college line	(800) 381-3722

Key links for homeschool families:

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