Help · Frequently Asked Questions
Forty-four answers, grouped by what you are actually trying to do. Credits and GPA, what belongs on a transcript and what does not, how to send one to colleges, and how to use your account. Each answer is short; where there is a longer guide, it is linked underneath.
No. In the old days, homeschoolers were advised to have their transcripts notarized to make them more official.
Now you can send official transcripts just like public and private schools do through our national Homeschool Clearinghouse.
Our partnership with Parchment allows homeschoolers to create official transcripts recognized by over 4,000 colleges and universities.
Using Parchment takes the place of notarization and delivers transcripts in the format admissions departments expect.
Now your transcript is just as official as everyone else's without the need for a notary.
Full guide: Should homeschool transcripts be notarized?
Yes. The transcript may be requested many years after high school graduation. It's recommended that it be printed off or saved electronically in your permanent records or given to your students for safekeeping.
Full guide: What makes a homeschool transcript official
The best approach is to incorporate all high school work into one transcript.
If the school your student attended prior to homeschooling was accredited, provide these transcripts along with your homeschool transcript as part of the college application process.
Use the commentary section of the transcript to list the school years attended, the name of the public/private school, and its accrediting agencies and/or associations.
Full guide: How to make a homeschool transcript, step by step
FastTranscripts.com uses an auto-save feature so just type and we'll save your content for you.
Include the senior year courses on the transcript even though they are not yet completed. Simply indicate "IP" in the grade column showing that the courses are in progress.
Full guide: See a full annotated transcript example
Yes. In the Senior section (or any grade/section still in progress), list the course title and credit(s), but type “IP” in the grade field. Any course with this abbreviation for In Progress (IP) will not be included in the Total, Summary by Grade, or Cumulative GPA calculations.
Full guide: See a full annotated transcript example
The parent or an official with the oversight school under which you are homeschooling typically signs the transcript.
Full guide: What makes a homeschool transcript official
A Social Security number is not required on a transcript.
Admissions offices typically use the last name and date of birth to match transcripts to college applications.
A social security # may be requested on the college application, but not on the transcript, in order to match financial aid or scholarship money that is received for your student.
Full guide: See a full annotated transcript example
Usually no. Class rank compares a student against the other students in their own graduating class, and a homeschool has no class to rank within, so most families report "none". That is a normal, expected answer and it is not a disadvantage. Fast Transcripts members can optionally generate a verified rank against the wider pool of participating homeschoolers through the Homeschool Clearinghouse.
Full guide: What is class rank reporting?
Generally, 1 high school credit equals 120 hours of class work.
Full guide: Homeschool credit hours explained
The average number of credits completed per year will vary depending on your student's future plans. Over the course of four years, the average number of credits completed for a general plan is 20 : 22 credits, for a college prep plan is 24 : 28 credits and for a rigorous college prep plan is 26 : 30 credits.
Full guide: Homeschool credit hours explained
Most states use the Carnegie unit which equates 1 credit for a year long high school course and ½ credit for a half year or semester long course if a standard high school textbook is used. Some states use a variation to the Carnegie unit by assigning 2 credits (Indiana), 5 credits (New Jersey), or 10 credits (California) for a year long course.
Full guide: Homeschool credit hours explained
Typically, a 3-5 credit college course taken in one semester converts to a one year long, 1 credit high school course.
Full guide: AP vs CLEP vs dual enrollment
Place an asterisk beside the course title and note in the "Miscellaneous" section of the transcript the school where the course was taken.
Full guide: AP vs CLEP vs dual enrollment
High school level courses in objective areas such as science, math or foreign language can be included on the high school transcript when taken prior to 9th grade. Keep good documentation of all high school courses.
Full guide: See a full annotated transcript example
List any high school course taken prior to 9th grade in the freshman section and asterisk the course. In the miscellaneous section, indicate the courses that were taken prior to 9th grade.
Full guide: See a full annotated transcript example
You can list Algebra or other courses taken in 8th grade in the Freshman section followed by an asterisk
(e.g Algebra I *). Then add a note of explanation in the miscellaneous section (e.g. * Course taken as an eighth grader).
Full guide: See a full annotated transcript example
When titling a course on the transcript, use a brief, descriptive title so that others will have an accurate idea of the course content. Don't necessarily use the textbook title as the name for your course title.
Full guide: How to make a homeschool transcript, step by step
To automatically calculate an Honors or AP course you'll need to type the word Honors or AP followed by a colon and then the course name in the Course Title field (e.g. Honors: Biology or AP: Latin).
An Honors course will add a 1/2 point increase and an AP course will add a 1 point increase to the GPA.
To label a course Advanced Placement or AP on your high school transcript, your syllabus for that particular course must be reviewed and audited by the AP Central Department of the College Board.
Full guide: How to calculate a homeschool GPA
Honors and AP level courses will weight the GPA because the grades receive higher than standard points; which, in turn, raise the overall GPA.
How to Compute a GPA
Full guide: Weighted vs unweighted GPA
FastTranscripts.com automatically calculates a grade point average. For more information on grade point average calculations see:
Computing a GPA
Full guide: How to calculate a homeschool GPA
The transcript service calculates a cumulative grade point average.
Computing a GPA
Full guide: How to calculate a homeschool GPA
FastTranscripts.com uses a 4 point scale where an “A” is worth 4 points, “B” is worth 3 points, “C” is worth 2 points, “D” is worth 1 point, and an “F” is worth 0 points.
Full guide: Homeschool grading scale
Our transcripts are unweighted by default.
If honors or Advanced Placement prefixes are used in the course title (e.g. AP: or Honors:), the GPA will be calculated as weighted.
Full guide: Weighted vs unweighted GPA
Parents or oversight groups will evaluate their teens' course work in order to award a grade.
Full guide: Homeschool grading scale
Parents may choose the grading scale they wish to use.
A ten point scale (90 : 100 A, 80:89 B, and so on) is often acceptable.
Full guide: Homeschool grading scale
Yes. A plus (+) adds .3 to the grade point and a minus (-) subtracts .3 from the grade point when calculating a grade point average.
Full guide: Homeschool grading scale
Yes, but since these grades will not factor into the GPA calculation, we suggest keeping them to a minimum. If your teen will be registering with the NCAA it converts all pass grades to a "D" grade and recalculates the grade point average.
Full guide: Does pass/fail grading hurt your GPA?
Go ahead and include the course along with the word PASS or FAIL in the corresponding grade field. Our auto-calculation technology allows you to show PASS/FAIL courses without factoring the credit(s) into the overall GPA.
Full guide: Does pass/fail grading hurt your GPA?
Now homeschoolers can send secure watermark or digital transcripts directly from our Homeschool Clearinghouse to 4,397 colleges & universities!
Here are 3 essential things you need to know about e-filing your transcript.
In addition to error-free, weighted & unweighted GPA auto-calculations, our algorithms meticulously flags every possible problem you could make, guaranteeing you a perfect transcript!
Catch 703 common mistakes : Transcript Audit
FastTranscripts.com can provide both elementary & middle school transcripts.
There are 4 steps for removing the high school labels from our transcripts.
Send me the 4 steps involved in creating a K-8 transcript
Email support@fasttranscripts.com with the names of the colleges and universities you're applying to and we will let you know if they accept electronic transcripts.
Expect a reply within 1 hour.
Once your transcript is finished, click MY ACCOUNT, then click the Get an Official transcript mailed or E-filed (button).
Afterwards, you'll receive an email with a link to create a Parchment account associated with your student's transcript.
Full guide: How homeschoolers send transcripts via Parchment
Most of what governs a homeschool transcript is set by the college, not the state. A few states write a separate track for homeschoolers into their admission or scholarship rules, and in several of them that track runs on test scores instead of the transcript. Worth knowing well before senior year, because the qualifying score usually has to be earned before graduation.
UC sorts homeschoolers into two groups. If the curriculum came through a program accredited by one of the seven formerly regional accrediting agencies, or approved by the State Board of Education, and the student receives an official transcript and diploma from it, then the same admission requirements apply as for any traditional applicant, including the a-g subject requirements. If the homeschool is not accredited and issues no accredited diploma, UC may still consider the student for admission by exception. On the UC application, list coursework under “Home school not associated with a traditional public or private high school.”
Differently from everyone else, and the transcript plays no part in it. Florida requires a home-educated student to be registered with the district home education office during the current and prior academic year, then qualify on test scores and service hours rather than on coursework and GPA. The Bright Futures handbook states it plainly: home-educated and Personalized Education Program students “do not need to provide a student transcript.” For 2025-26 and 2026-27 graduates the scores are SAT 1330 / ACT 29 / CLT 95 for Florida Academic Scholars and SAT 1190 / ACT 24 / CLT 82 for Florida Medallion Scholars, plus 100 hours of volunteer service or paid work. The FFAA is due by August 31 of the final year, and scores can be sent straight to Bright Futures using CEEB code 0095.
On a test score, not a GPA. A graduate of an unaccredited home study program cannot use the calculated HOPE GPA route that accredited-school graduates use, which is a 3.0 HOPE GPA plus four credits from the Academic Rigor Course List for HOPE, or a 3.7 HOPE GPA plus a 1200 SAT for Zell Miller. The homeschool route is a score earned before high school completion: SAT 1160 or ACT 24 for HOPE, and SAT 1340 or ACT 29 for Zell Miller. A student who misses that bar can still pick up HOPE retroactively with a 3.0 postsecondary HOPE GPA after 30 semester or 45 quarter hours of college credit.
More than almost anywhere else. Texas guarantees admission to its public universities by class rank, and UT Austin automatically admits Texas residents in the top 5% of their graduating class. Homeschoolers normally report no rank at all, so the state built a separate route: under House Bill 3041, passed in 2025, UT Austin automatically admits applicants who completed a non-traditional secondary education and submit an SAT composite of 1570 or higher, or an ACT composite of 36. That bar sits well above the ordinary admitted range, so treat it as a bonus path rather than a plan.
Full guide: what is class rank reporting?
Yes, and the award itself is the reason. Bright Futures pays tuition at a Florida college. HOPE pays tuition at a Georgia college. Neither program writes a dollar until a university has already admitted your student, and that admission is a completely separate decision made on the file you submit. Both states built a score-based side door for the money because a state agency cannot audit a parent-issued GPA. An admissions office has no such difficulty. Reading transcripts is the job.
Our analysis of 601 colleges’ Common Data Sets puts numbers on the gap. Grade point average is the single most weighted admission factor, at 94.2%, and rigor of the secondary school record is second at 82.1%. The standardized test score that wins the scholarship ranks fifth, at 40.5%. Put plainly: the score gets you the money, and the transcript gets you the seat the money pays for.
A homeschool applicant carries one extra burden on top of that. Nobody outside your family has ever graded this student, so the transcript has to do its own vouching, with a grading-scale key, clear course titles and an honest weighted and unweighted GPA. Build one free and see the GPA calculated for you, or browse scholarships open to homeschoolers.
You'll have complete access to all the features in our Essentials Plan (auto-calc yearly, cumulative, weighted & unweighted GPAs, course name auto-suggest, & more), except for printing, course descriptions and the transcript audit.
You must purchase a paid subscription in order to print transcripts.
Get a (no credit card required) FREE TRIAL today!
Click here to renew your subscription.
You can pause or cancel your account at any time inside of the app. Login, go to Help, and then select Billing at the very bottom.
Please ensure you follow all of the steps to finalize your cancelation.
Cancellations will be automatically set for the end of your billing cycle. This ensures that you can still use the app for the month you have already paid for.
To self-print your transcript do the following:
1. Click here to login
2. Click the student's name (button)
3. Click PRINT, then click Download Transcript (link)
If you are having a sealed secure watermark copy mailed from The Homeschool Clearinghouse or electronically submitting your transcript, you'll digitally sign on the Parchment website.
Here are 3 essential things you need to know about e-filing your transcript: https://fasttranscripts.com/3-things/
Click here to visit our password reset page. Enter your email address and we'll send you a link to reset your password.
Click here to login and then click on your student's account.
Click any of the blue bars marked Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior to enter your student's courses, grades, and credits.
Yes, it matters! Please use the same email address on your new subscription as you used to set up your free trial transcript account. You can change your email address after you activate your new subscription by logging into FastTranscripts.com, clicking on MY ACCOUNT, and selecting "Change my email address."
We're sad to see you go! 👋
You can pause or cancel your account at any time inside of the app. Login, go to Help, and then select Billing at the very bottom.
Please ensure you follow all of the steps to finalize your cancelation.
Cancellations will be automatically set for the end of your billing cycle. This ensures that you can still use the app for the month you have already paid for.
Online chat is available Monday - Friday from 9:00am - 5:00pm EST.
Inbound phone support is available with the purchase of our Expert Review Package.
For all other questions email support@homeschooltranscripts.com
Build a college-ready transcript with automatic weighted and unweighted GPA. The math and the on-screen build are free to start, with no credit card.
Start Free