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Homeschoolers on to College: What Research Shows Us
Journal of College Admission, Fall 2004 by Ray, Brian D
A few researchers have examined adults who were home-educated without necessarily linking them to the college scene. J. Gary Knowles (Knowles & de Olivares, 1991; Knowles & Muchmore, 1995) was the first to focus research on adults who were home-educated, collecting extensive data from a group who were home-educated an average of about six years before they were 17 years old. He found that they tended to be involved in entrepreneurial and professional occupations, were fiercely independent, and strongly emphasized the importance of family. Furthermore, they were glad they had been home-educated, would recommend homeschooling to others, and had no grossly negative perceptions of living in a pluralistic society.
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I recently conducted the largest nationwide study of home-educated adults (Ray, 2004a). The target population was all homeschooled adults in the U.S. Most of my findings were consistent with what Knowles and his colleagues (Knowles & de Olivares, 1991; Knowles & Muchmore, 1995) found. Of 7,306 adults who had been homeschooled participated, 5,254 had been homeschooled for seven or more years during K-12. This subset of participants had several things in common:
1. Their average age was 21.
2. They were homeschooled for an average of 11 years.
3. Regarding the primary method of instruction used during their homeschool years (of nine listed in the survey), 34 percent selected "more than one of the above" nine, methods, 25 percent chose "traditional textbooks and assignments," and 22 percent responded "eclectic, directed by parent."
4. A higher percent of them had taken some college courses than the general U.S. population of similar age, and a higher percent of the home-educated already had a baccalaureate.
5. Less homeschoolers (61 percent) read a newspaper at least once a week than do U.S. adults of similar age (82 percent).
6. More of the home-educated (98 percent) read a book in the past six months than did the general population (69 percent).
7. More of the homeschooled (100 percent) read one or more magazines on a regular basis than the general population (89 percent).
8. Seventy-one percent of the homeschooled "...participate in any ongoing community service activity..." compared to 37 percent of the general population.
9. With the statement, "politics and government are too complicated to understand," four percent of the homeeducated agree while 35 percent of the general population agree.
10. For those of age 18 to 24, 76 percent of the homeschooled voted in the past five years while 29 percent of the same-age general population in the U.S. voted.
11. Of those ages 18 to 24, 14 percent of the home-educated participated in a protest or boycott during the past 12 months while 7 percent of the general population did so.
In essence, the home-educated were very positive about their homeschool experiences, actively involved in their local communities, keeping abreast of current affairs, highly civically engaged, going on to college at a higher rate than the national average, tolerant of others' expressing their viewpoints, religiously active, but wide-ranging in their worldview beliefs, holding worldview beliefs similar to those of their parents, and largely home-educating their own children.
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