The Daily Iowan

Come Aug. 27, eight incoming freshmen will begin their first day of classes at the UI. They are all ranked first in their graduating classes – with a high-school class size of just one.

The homeschooled students make up a small portion of the incoming freshman class. And Michael Barron, the UI Admissions director, said the number is average for the UI.

“We get some [homeschooled students] every year,” he said. “We treat them in the admissions process the same as if they had gone to an organized high school.”

Nine additional homeschooled students who began college at other schools will transfer to the UI this fall.

Joel Whitehouse, a UI senior, was homeschooled before he enrolled at Kirkwood Community College as a 16-year-old. Whitehouse who, along with his younger brother and sister, was educated by his mother, said he felt his homeschooling experience was beneficial and allowed him opportunities a public high-school lacked.

“It really gave me a good mindset coming to [college] for the first time – it helped a lot with discipline,” said Whitehouse, who started at the UI in 2005…

Click here to read entire story