Many of our members’ teenagers participate in Minnesota’s Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program. This page will give you an overview of the program and link you to various resources that provide further information.
The Basics: The PSEO program allows Minnesota high school juniors and seniors to take college classes and earn college credits. Tuition and books are paid for by the Minnesota Department of Education, which has reported that “over 7000” students participated in PSEO in the 2005-06 school year. Approximately 10% of them (700) were homeschoolers!
Our member families have generally found the PSEO program easy to access and use. Most colleges are eager to have self-directed homeschooled students, and many of them have separate instructions and assistance for homeschoolers applying to their programs. The enabling legislation for the PSEO program is quite lengthy and is not typically an issue for PSEO students, but if you’re so inclined, you can read the entire statute at Minn. Stat. 124D.09.
If you have a teen who’s interested in the PSEO program, there are some things to consider. The program applies to four-year colleges and universities, community colleges, and vocational/technical colleges. Participation in the PSEO program is optional for colleges - they don’t have to take any PSEO students at all. Colleges that do participate in the program set their own admission criteria. While the admission standards may be slightly lower for PSEO students than they will be for incoming college freshman at that school, your teen should not take the PSEO admission process lightly.
Start Early: It’s very helpful to contact prospective colleges at least a year before your teen reaches the junior year in high school. Some colleges have special testing requirements for homeschooled students, which can require substantial lead time. If you start early, you should be able to get all of the requirements taken care of well before the PSEO application deadline set by the college you’re interested in.
A Helpful Link: The University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus maintains an “Advanced High School” website specifically addressing PSEO issues. It also contains a list of other Minnesota institutions offering PSEO programs. Many people have found it useful to review the U of M PSEO site, even if they’re not planning to attend the University of Minnesota.
A Common Question: A number of homeschooling parents have asked if they need to continue to report their child to the school district even after the child reaches the age of 16, simply to maintain that child’s eligibility for the PSEO program. The answer is “no” - the reporting requirements end at age 16, and reporting has no impact on PSEO eligibility.
PSEO Articles: These articles from a homeschooling parent and homeschooled students were originally published in The Grapevine, the quarterly newsletter of the Minnesota Homeschoolers’ Alliance.
This thoughtful article by an MHA dad gives an overview of the PSEO program and describes the process his family went through when guiding his son down the PSEO path.
Alyssa attended Normandale Community College on a full-time basis under the PSEO program.
Andy took classes on a part-time basis through PSEO at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus.
Anya took an “online” PSEO class through the University of Minnesota at Morris.
Casey attended Century College - a community and technical college - on a full-time basis under the PSEO program.
Trevor took PSEO classes at Normandale Community College on a part-time basis.