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�й�����Ƭ evaluates the validity of a student’s high school completion if the school has reason to believe that the high school diploma is not valid or was not obtained from an entity that provides secondary school education. �й�����Ƭ has implemented a policy to translate all foreign high school diploma within 15 business days after the student sign his/her enrollment agreement.

�й�����Ƭ understand and follow the policy from the Department of Education that to receive FSA funds, a student must be qualified to study at the postsecondary level. A student qualifies if he/she has a high school diploma (this can be from a foreign school if it is equivalent to a U.S. high school diploma);

Students must provide one of the following documents that indicate their high school completion status at the beginning of the 2015–2016 year:

• A copy of a high school diploma national or foreign.
• A copy of a final, official high school transcript that shows the date when the diploma was awarded.
• A copy of a General Educational Development (GED) certificate or GED transcript that indicates the student passed the exam.
• Certification of a passing score on a test that the student’s state authorizes and recognizes as the equivalent of a high school diploma. This includes tests similar to the GED, such as the High School Equivalency Test or the Test Assessing Secondary Completion. Test transcripts are acceptable documentation if they indicate that the final score is a passing score or that the student’s state considers the test results to meet its high school equivalency requirements.
• A copy of the “secondary school leaving certificate” or similar document from the proper government agency for students who completed secondary school in a foreign country. If your college doesn’t have the expertise to evaluate foreign secondary school credentials or chooses not to do so, there are evaluation services available.
• An academic transcript that indicates the student successfully completed at least a two-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree at any participating school.
• A copy of a secondary school completion credential for homeschool (other than a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent) if state law requires homeschooled students to obtain that credential.
• A transcript or the equivalent, signed by the parent or guardian of a homeschooled student, that lists the secondary school courses the student completed and documents the successful completion of a secondary school education in a homeschool setting.
• For a student who has not completed high school and is seeking enrollment in a program that leads to at least an associate degree or its equivalent, documentation from the high school that he/she excelled academically and from the school that he/she meets their written policy for admitting such students. This should be a rare occurrence.
• For students in an “eligible career pathway program,” documentation that they passed an approved ATB test or completed at least 6 credit hours or 225 clock hours that are applicable toward a degree or certificate offered by your school.

If �й�����Ƭ receives one of these documents as part of the admission process, our institution does not need to ask for another. In cases where documentation of high school completion is unavailable—e.g., the school is closed and no information is available from another source such as the school district or state department of education, or the parent or guardian who homeschooled the student is deceased—�й�����Ƭ accepts alternative documentation to verify her high school completion status.

A student may self-certify on the FAFSA that he has received a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate or that he has completed secondary school through homeschooling as defined by state law.

Checking the Validity of a High School Diploma

If the academy department of �й�����Ƭ has reason to believe that the high school diploma is not valid or was not obtained from an entity that provides secondary school education, we must evaluate the validity of the student’s high school completion. Students who indicate on their FAFSA that they graduated high school must give the name, city, and state of the high school.

FAFSA on the Web will not allow students to skip these items, and it will have a drop-down list of both public and private high schools populated by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Inclusion on the list does not mean that a diploma from the school is valid, nor does exclusion from the list mean that the diploma is invalid. �й�����Ƭ requests documentation for checking the validity of a student’s high school completion can include the diploma and a final transcript that shows all the courses the student took.  For students who completed their secondary schooling outside the United States, �й�����Ƭ if has reasons to believe that the high school diploma is not valid or was not obtained from an entity that provides secondary school education; our school has established the procedure to compare documents from the same country, as well as use the services of companies that determine the validity of foreign secondary school credentials, including diploma or transcripts, which are translated and evaluated looking for its equivalence in United Stated. One resource that �й�����Ƭ uses to determine if a high school diploma is valid is the department of education in the state in which the high school is located, if that department has jurisdiction over the high school.

Recognized Equivalents of a High School Diploma

�й�����Ƭ recognizes several equivalents to a high school diploma:

• A certificate or other official completion documentationdemonstrating that the student has passed a state-authorizedexamination (such as the Test Assessing Secondary Completion(TASC) the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET);
• An academic transcript of a student who has successfully completedat least a two-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward abachelor’s degree; or
• For a student who enrolls before completing high school, a transcript indicating the student has excelled in high school. The student must no longer be enrolled in high school, must satisfy your school’s written policy for admitting such students, and must be starting a program that leads at least to an associate’s degree or its equivalent.

Important Note:

Possessing a certificate of high-school completion is not sufficient for a student to be Title IV aid eligible. Such a certificate may be issued without a student having completed all of the academic graduation requirements, including passing any required examinations. A state must consider a certificate or high-school-completion-equivalency test as equivalent to a high school diploma in that state in order for it to be considered equivalent to a high school diploma for Title IV aid eligibility purposes.

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