What about a Diploma?

What’s the difference between a Diploma and a Transcript?

One of the first questions we often hear from parents new to homeschooling is: How will my student get a high school diploma? And that’s understandable considering most of us went to public school and walked across the stage and received a fancy diploma and thought that was the important document to show we graduated. However that is a little misleading. What really counted was the transcripts we received for the work we completed. So let’s define terms first.

Diploma — is simply a certificate awarded by an approved educational program, which would be your homeschool or an education institution your student attended, to show your student has successfully completed a course of study. The diploma is the ornamental certificate written on fancy paper that can be framed and put on the wall but will rarely be requested by colleges or post secondary schools.

Transcript — an official academic record of a student’s work, showing courses taken and grades achieved. The transcript is what colleges require when you submit an application. (See previous blog post on how to create a transcript)

Total transparency: I homeschooled my four children and while three of them received a fancy diploma, I never did for youngest. (Poor kid also barely has any pictures compared to the rest but I digress) I discovered through experience the diploma was rarely requested so I just never got around to it. But at any time I can simply hop online and download a free template to create one. There is some basic wording to be sure to include like “high school diploma” of course and “student name has satisfactorily completed the course of study prescribed” and your signature of course. In addition, if you really want a fancy one there are websites that will gladly take your money and plug in your student’s name for you and provide one and that’s okay too.

At EQUIP, we provide a diploma certificate for any student that takes their entire high school course load through our program which includes a minimum of 5 classes each academic year from 9th-12th.

Here is a link to further information on diplomas by the Homeschool Legal Defense Association aka HSLDA.

Below is a sample of an EQUIP diploma…