This month’s website spotlight is The University Network (tun). TUN has a ton to offer! (Pardon the pun, I couldn’t resist.) Since I last spotlighted this resource in February of 2024, the website now identifies the search engine as “TUN AI” and it leads you through a chat like other AI tools such as Gemini or CoPilot. In addition to the search engine specific to scholarships, it also includes search engines for free courses, internships, and student discounts. The website also has a resources section including a College Admissions, FAFSA guide, and school profiles. Finally, in addition to the online resources, the website also has TUN TV where you can “watch exclusive interviews with education thought leaders.”

Although I am sure you are use to the scholarship search engines, as they are all pretty similar, I probably got your attention with the free course search engine mentioned! TUN has a search engine that is specific to (over 6,000) free courses, as well as quick links to free courses from top schools like Harvard, Yale, and MIT.

Below are a few scholarships found on TUN with a November 2026 Deadline:

Ramsey Education Scholarship

Sponsor: Ramsey Education

Amount: $1,000 (5 Winners) / 1-Year EveryDollar Premium Subscription (20 Runners-up)

Closing Date: November 30, 2026

Description: Open to high school seniors who are taking or have completed a Ramsey Education Foundations curriculum (Economics, Entrepreneurship, Personal Finance, or Homeschool). Applicants must submit either a 350–500 word essay or a 30–60 second video explaining how their perspective on money has changed and how they plan to handle finances as an adult without debt.

Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Scholarship Program

Sponsor: Tony Signore / UNCF

Amount: $10,000

Closing Date: November 18, 2026

Description: This program awards scholarships to exceptional HBCU seniors (full-time rising seniors with a minimum 3.5 GPA) who demonstrate high academic achievement, leadership, community service, and unmet financial need.

Here is a list of scholarships from across the web:

Haz La U Scholarship

Sponsor: Colgate-Palmolive & Hispanic Heritage Foundation

Amount: Up to $10,000

Closing Date: November 1, 2026

Description: Dedicated to supporting Hispanic high school seniors who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership skills, and an active dedication to serving their local communities.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Patriot’s Pen

Sponsor: Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)

Amount: Up to $5,000

Closing Date: November 1, 2026

Description: Open to middle school students in grades 6–8 nationwide. Contestants write a 300- to 400-word essay reflecting on an annual patriotic theme to express their views on democracy, history, and American freedom.

Chick-fil-A Community Scholars Program

Sponsor: Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Amount: $25,000

Closing Date: November 3, 2026

Description: Open to high school seniors and college students who demonstrate academic achievement, community involvement, and leadership. Recipients also participate in a dedicated leadership development curriculum.

Regeneron Science Talent Search

Sponsor: Society for Science & Regeneron

Amount: Up to $250,000

Closing Date: November 5, 2026

Description: The nation’s most prestigious science and math research competition for high school seniors, evaluating independent original scientific research and discovery.

From the Top Fellowships & Awards

Sponsor: From the Top

Amount: Up to $10,000

Closing Date: November 9, 2026

Description: Open to classical instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers between the ages of 8 and 18 who have not yet entered college. Applicants submit music audition tapes along with personal statements demonstrating financial need.

Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship Program

Sponsor: Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

Amount: Up to $55,000 per year

Closing Date: November 11, 2026

Description: Highly selective award for high-achieving high school seniors with financial need who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement, leadership, and persistence.

Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship

Sponsor: Elks National Foundation

Amount: Up to $30,000

Closing Date: November 12, 2026

Description: Open to all U.S. high school seniors evaluating applicants on scholarship, leadership, and financial need across 500 four-year awards nationwide.

Youth Art Contest

Sponsor: Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer

Amount: Up to $200

Closing Date: November 13, 2026

Description: Open to children and youth 18 years of age or younger nationwide who are directly or indirectly affected by cancer. Applicants submit original visual artwork or photography reflecting hope and strength.

James Alan Cox Photography Scholarship

Sponsor: The James Alan Cox Foundation for Student Photographers

Amount: Digital Camera Equipment / $2,500

Closing Date: November 15, 2026

Description: High school students submit original digital photo portfolios to compete for digital camera equipment and tuition support for photojournalism studies.

Mensa US Scholarship

Sponsor: Mensa Education & Research Foundation

Amount: Up to $2,500

Closing Date: November 15, 2026

Description: Open to graduating high school seniors who submit an essay of 550 words or less expressing their career, academic, and life goals.

Fields of Corn Photo Contest

Sponsor: National Corn Growers Association

Amount: Up to $j00

Closing Date: November 17, 2026

Description: Open to photographers of all ages, including youth and children nationwide. Participants submit original digital photography capturing rural life, grain harvesting, field corn, or agricultural landscapes across America.

Innovation in Education Scholarship

Sponsor: LA Tutors 123

Amount: $500

Closing Date: November 20, 2026

Description: Open to high school and college students who have created an innovative project, mobile application, or community program that addresses an educational or social issue.

NHS Scholarship

Sponsor: National Honor Society / NASSP

Amount: Up to $25,000

Closing Date: November 20, 2026

Description: Open to high school seniors who are active members of the National Honor Society, evaluated on scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

Because College Is Expensive Scholarship

Sponsor: Cedar Education Lending

Amount: $500

Closing Date: November 30, 2026

Description: Open to high school juniors, seniors, and college students to assist with educational funding via a quick general entry submission.

Education Matters Scholarship

Sponsor: Unigo

Amount: $5,000

Closing Date: November 30, 2026

Description: Applicants submit a concise response of 250 words or less explaining why education matters in today’s changing world.

Flusche & Fitzgerald Law Scholarship

Sponsor: Flusche & Fitzgerald Attorneys at Law

Amount: $500

Closing Date: November 30, 2026

Description: High school seniors produce a short video raising awareness about public safety laws, distracted driving, or community legal literacy.

ServiceScape Scholarship

Sponsor: ServiceScape

Amount: $1,000

Closing Date: November 30, 2026

Description: High school seniors and undergraduate students submit a 300-word essay answering how writing and communication impact today’s global society.

Tons of parents want to know how much time they should carve out of their school day for a college class. I have prepared a chart for online classes and on-campus classes that will help you get a good idea before you enroll.

Continue reading “How Much Time Does a College Class Take?” →

October 5-6 is this quarter’s live class. Everyone who registers for the class receives the complete BIG Transcript Bundle and lifetime access to future versions of this class. We have you covered until your very last student graduates from your homeschool!

Day 1:  October 5, 2026, 2 pm-3:30 pm Eastern

• Part 1: Transcript vs diploma, high school record-keeping, sending official transcripts
• Part 2: Transcript format, by subject vs by year, and GPA demonstration: weighted/unweighted 

Day 2: October 6, 2026, 2 pm-3:30 pm Eastern 

• Part 3: Credits (high school, honors, CLEP, dual enrollment, letter grades, etc.)
• Part 4: Writing course titles, course descriptions, and making your own syllabus

Everything You Get

LIVE TRANSCRIPT TRAINING (Next: October 5-6)

2-Day Live Transcript Class
Attend the complete class live with me. Offered quarterly so you can choose the session(s) that work best for your family.

Complete Class Replay
Watch the recordings again whenever you need a refresher.

Class Handout
Follow along during class and keep the key information organized in one place.

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BUILD YOUR TRANSCRIPT

Homeschool Transcript Templates
Start with blank templates or design a transcript from scratch.

Transcript Template Tutorial
A step-by-step tutorial showing you exactly how to build a perfect template.

Transcript Sample Library: 12 Complete Examples
See how real homeschool transcripts can look across different situations and students.

400 High School Course Title Examples
Stop wondering what to call a class. Use this huge reference library to create clear, appropriate high school course titles.

250 Course Description Examples
Use professionally written examples to help document exactly what your student studied.

15 Homeschool Course Syllabus Examples
See what a homeschool syllabus can look like and how much detail you actually need.

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GPA & GRADING TOOLKIT

Weighted GPA Calculation Demonstration
Watch me calculate a weighted GPA so you can see exactly how the math works.

GPA Calculator + GPA Cheat Sheet
Calculate your student’s GPA without building formulas yourself.

Best Practices for Assigning Grades
A practical guide for deciding how grades should be earned and documented in a homeschool course.

GPA Lifesaver: Check My Math
Send me your GPA calculation, and I will personally check it for you as often as you need.

How to Handle F Grades
Learn how to handle failing grades on a homeschool transcript and what options you have.

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MAKE THE TRANSCRIPT STRONGER

30 Ready-to-Use Homeschool Transcript Endorsements
Choose from 30 prepared endorsements to communicate additional information about your student’s high school education.

Common Application Transcript Training
Learn how your homeschool transcript fits into the Common Application process.

Homeschool School Profile Guide
Learn how to create the school profile colleges may receive alongside your student’s transcript.

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AI TRANSCRIPT TOOLKIT

AI Master Prompts
Use my prepared prompts to help you work faster on transcript-related tasks without having to figure out what to ask AI.

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The Goal

You don’t leave this class with information about transcripts.

You leave with the training, templates, examples, calculators, tools, and personal support you need to actually build one correctly.

Yusuf served as a Homeschooling for College Credit intern this summer, and after accumulating 99 college credits, he has made huge progress towards his degree. Read below as he shares his experience as a teen in Texas taking college courses in high school.

Continue reading “Happy Story: Yusuf Environmental Engineering” →

I’m happy to share this story written by our summer intern Naomi. Naomi is attending UC Davis and graduated from her homeschool with 50 carefully planned college credits. As a result, Naomi expects her undergrad degree will be shortened by over 1 year, and the cost savings will allow her to pursue her dream of a Master’s in Library Science.

Continue reading “Happy Story: Naomi Heads to UC Davis” →

“How do I keep track of all these scholarships and what needs done for each?” Last month I gave you an idea for tracking scholarships with a spreadsheet. Within the past month I have found an online tool that does that, and a bit more, on Ready Set College by SAGE Scholars. First, let me briefly explain Ready Set College by SAGE Scholars. According to its website, it is a “comprehensive college and career planning website, designed to provide students with best practices and proven strategies to achieve successful college outcomes.” Ready Set College serves as a centralized hub connecting students, parents, and counselors with resources to navigate higher education. It works alongside the broader Tuition Rewards program, which grants points (1 point = $1 USD) through employers, financial institutions, and 529 plans to provide guaranteed minimum tuition discounts of up to 25% at over 435 participating private colleges and universities. As far as a scholarships go, what really got me excited was one particular tool on their site.

The helpful tool is called a “Scholarship Tracker” (of course you need to get an account to use this tool). On the page for the scholarship tracker, there are several sections that can be quite helpful. First it has 6 “Rules of the Game,” then an explanation of each section of the scholarship tracker and how it helps you apply for scholarships en mass and how it helps keep it all organized. As you scroll further down the page they provide a “Where to Start” for each year of high school. HINT: Don’t start the senior year – you can begin applying for scholarships and contests in middle school – or younger! (This road map begins in ninth grade.) In depth Guides have articles that focus on work-flow and methods, as well as a grade by grade timeline. Finally, the article gives you the advantages by explaining the pitfalls that the tracker helps you prevent.

Currently, I have my son using a paper tracker built from a spreadsheet. On it we are able to list the scholarships, deadlines, award amounts, any other pertinent information, and the date he submits the scholarship package. What I like about the Scholarship Tracker is that you can upload all your documents (test scores, transcripts, recommendation letters), the student builds their achievement log, and the four basic essays which are usually required for scholarships (Challenge, Leadership, Community, Future Goals). The essay requested for a scholarship can be copied and pasted into scholarship applications, then ‘tweaked’ to fit that specific application. On the dashboard of the tracker it identifies how many scholarships you have applied for, how much money you have won and where other scholarships are at in the ‘pipeline.’ Finally, there is a page that tells the student what need done and the deadline it needs completed by for each scholarship they have in their tracker. If you have your student use the Scholarship Tracker, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Here area some scholarships you can consider having your student add to their tracker (whatever format that they use):

Sports Gear Swag Scholarship
Sponsor: Sports Gear Swag
Amount: $1,000.00
Closing Date: October 1, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to current undergraduate and graduate students who are legal residents of the United States or hold a valid student visa. Applicant must submit an essay on a one of three given topics related to playing sports.

AU Student Essay Contest
Sponsor: Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Amount: Up to $1,500
Closing Date: October 5, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to high school juniors and seniors in the United States. Applicant must submit an essay on a given topic related to the separation of religion and government.

AmericanTrucks Student Scholarships
Sponsor: AmericanTrucks
Amount: $2,000.00
Closing Date: October 15, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to graduating high school seniors and students currently enrolled full-time in an accredited United States technical institute, secondary votech or tuition bearing apprenticeship program in he traditional building trades (e.g. carpentry, HVAC, electrical or related fields of study.

NSCA Foundation Scholarships
Sponsor: National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) Foundation
Amount: $2,000.00
Closing Date: October 15, 2026
Description: Scholarships are open to high school seniors and college students who are or will be pursuing careers in strength and conditioning. The foundation offers multiple scholarships.

Strong Arm Leukemia Scholarship
Sponsor: John Foy & Associates
Amount: $1,000.00
Closing Date: October 15, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to students who have been affected by leukemia, either by being diagnosed themselves or someone they loved being diagnosed with leukemia. Applicant must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university as an undergraduate or is an incoming freshmen at an accredited institution in the United States.

Varsity Tutors College Scholarship Contest
Sponsor: Varsity Tutors
Amount: $200.00
Closing Date: October 15, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 16 years of age or older. Applicant must submit an essay on the following prompt: “Reflect on a research question, experiment, or academic project that sparked your curiosity and deepened your understanding of a subject.”

U.S. Bank Scholarship Program
Sponsor: U.S. Bank
Amount: Up to $20,000
Closing Date: October 30, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who is at least 17 years of age or older and are enrolled as a current undergraduate student as of September 1, 2027. Applicant must complete financial lessons to be entered.

$1,500 Easy Scholarship: Offline Mode
Sponsor: DoSomething
Amount: $1,500.00
Closing Date: October 31, 2026
Description: No post, comment, or like is worth risking a life. Distracted driving claimed 3,208 lives in 2024, and you chose to Do Something about it! Share your story about why you chose to take the Offline Mode pledge, help your friends stay in #OfflineMode by sharing the pledge and toolkit, and show your community what it looks like to keep eyes on the road, and not on your feed. Submit your impact, and share why you took the offline Mode pledge and what going offline means to you. You’ll be eligible for the opportunity to earn up to a $1,500 scholarship.

CareerFitter Online Scholarship
Sponsor: CareerFitter
Amount: $500.00
Closing Date: October 31, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to incoming and current undergraduate and graduate students. Applicant must take a free career test and submit an essay on their perfect career.

Direct Textbook Essay Scholarship Contest
Sponsor: DirectTextbook.com
Amount: $2,000.00
Closing Date: October 31, 2026
Description: Contest is open to graduating high school seniors, college, and postgraduate students in the United States. Applicant must submit an original essay of 500 words or fewer on the prompt: “The Skill I’m Teaching Myself That No Class Offers.”

International High School Essay Contest
Sponsor: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Amount: Up to $5,000
Closing Date: October 31, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to college-bound high school seniors. Applicant must submit an essay on the following prompt: “How can Young People use Leadership, Service, and Innovation to create Positive Change in their Communities?”

Money Metals Exchange Scholarship Program
Sponsor: Money Metals Exchange
Amount: Up to $2,500
Closing Date: October 31, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to incoming and current college and graduate students with an interest in economics, specifically the tradition of the Austrian school. However, students do not need to be an economic major to be eligible. Applicant must submit an essay on a given topic related to the economy.

This story was written by our 11th-grade Homeschooling for College Credit summer intern, Elisha. Over this past summer, Elisha worked on the team that updated many of our valuable Homeschooling for College Credit resources. I asked each intern to share their experiences with being homeschooled and earning college credit. I know you’ll enjoy her story.

Continue reading “Happy Story: Elisha Dual Enrollment” →

This is one of our most important Happy Stories ever published. If you’ve read the countless stories from families that seem to effortlessly manage 30+ college credits and felt like that goal was out of reach for your family, Wendy’s story will encourage you.

Continue reading “Happy Story: One College Class” →

Special thank you to Alina, a Homeschooling for College Credit parent in New Jersey, for sharing her daughter’s incredible story. Alina pulled her daughter from school after noticing an academic dip. After spending the next several months filling middle school gaps, her daughter’s love of learning took off.

Continue reading “Happy Story: Rebeccah Worldschooler to Grad School” →

The school year has begun in earnest for most of our teens, and for those at the end of their K-12 journey, the future is looming ahead. What’s next? College, military, work??? For those considering furthering their education at some level, then next question is “How do I pay for it?” Fortunately, there are millions of dollars out there to compete for. I have taken to using AI to help generate these lists of scholarships each month, but I check (and correct) every link before I send this off to post. However, please note that, on occasion, application submissions are cut off at a certain number and deadlines change, so always double check the scholarship website for the most up to date information.

Continue reading “September 2026 Scholarships and Contests” →

Often, a “good” high school writer struggles in ENG 101 while a student who didn’t do well in high school language arts finally finds success. What is it about ENG 101 that is so dramatically different from high school language arts, and how can you help your teen come through ENG 101 with success?

Continue reading “Why Good Writers Struggle in ENG 101” →

“I am sorry for the silly question, but my daughter starts her first in-person dual enrollment class next week. What should she wear? Should it be regular teen style, or more professional?”

Continue reading “Parent Question: What should my daughter wear to her dual enrollment class?” →

It’s the middle of summer, which means it’s intern season for Homeschooling for College Credit. Our five teens this summer span from coast to coast. As a nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers, these interns have their hands full! Over the 6-week program, they will write articles for our website, fact-check valuable dual enrollment lists, update state-by-state information, make videos, and even learn to use AI in a professional capacity. We are so proud of these young teens!

To qualify for the internship, applicants must already have a minimum of 9 college credits, have parents participating in our Facebook groups, and complete an application. Each year we have several dozen applicants!

Our interns will each receive a $500 scholarship, certificate of completion, 2 letters of recommendation, and documentation of their work to use for college and career applications. These teens are shining examples of the Homeschooling for College Credit program, and we honor their participation!

Internship program applications open each February. To qualify, students must be rising 10th-12th graders, have at least 9 college credits, and have a parent who is a member of our Facebook community.

August is often the time we start gearing up for school. As you and your teens work on scholarships, it’s a good idea to get some organization prepared. I want to share some ideas I have gleaned from numerous sources over the past several years of preparing these scholarship posts:

• Set aside dedicated time on a regular basis with your student to find scholarships that your student can apply for.
• Create a calendar of scholarship due dates to apply for.
• Create a spreadsheet to keep everything organized. Include columns for: Scholarship Name (a hyperlink here is useful), Award Amount, Deadline, Essay (Yes/No, word count, topic, whatever notes you need for this column), Date Submitted, Notes.

I did not start the suggested spreadsheet when my son started applying for scholarships. This resulted in the experience of repeatedly reminding him to apply for a certain scholarship; him “thinking” he already did, but the only record he had of it was the date he saved the essay on his computer. Therefore, he assumed he had applied for the scholarship. Lesson learned.

Having all of the items I listed in a spreadsheet will reduce confusion, allow student and parent to easily see the scholarships applied for, and keep this often chaotic process, due to the number of scholarships available, manageable and organized.

To get you started, here are some scholarships available with August deadlines:

When my four teens were earning college credit, we were on the tightest of tight budgets! So finding free and low-cost college credit is a special hobby of mine. Every year I create a mini-guide of all the freebies. Here is the guide for 2026-2027.

Continue reading “Free College Credit 2026-2027” →

As soon as you start chatting with other parents of teens, you’ll immediately begin hearing the terms “dual enrollment” or “PSEO” or “dual credit” and others. If you’re confused, that’s fair! The terms can be incredibly confusing, but this post will quickly clear it up!

Continue reading “Dual Enrollment Vocabulary” →

Yes, summer is here, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of scholarships out there to apply for! Also, I found a great resource for scholarships…not your typical scholarship search site that I usually highlight, though it does list some scholarships. The site is UcanGo2.org. This is an Oklahoma state resource, but it looks to have a treasure trove of resources. For example, at the bottom of the Financial Aid page are great resource downloads like a Scholarship Success Guide, a scholarship tracker (which I printed out for my son to use), essay tips, and a few others. Within the website there is information on high school planning, career planning, as well as exploring jobs, colleges, programs, and majors, etc. I can’t wait to explore all that this newly found site has to offer!

I’ve created a little mini-series newsletter called 10 Days of Creative College Funding! It’s totally free. You’ll find the first issue below.

Continue reading “10 Days of Creative College Funding” →

Most of us use ChatGPT for simple one-off tasks, but I want to show you how to turn your ChatGPT into a tool you can use again and again. In this video, I’ll show you how I used ChatGPT for a task I was working on and then used it to create a master prompt so we could do it again, and again, and again.

As fall planning is probably already on your radar, I wanted to bring you 30 college credits to choose from if your teen needs a fine arts or design credit. This list includes a mix of college courses and credit-by-exam, both Christian and secular. All options are available to homeschool students in any state, and they are asynchronous, so your student doesn’t have to be online at a specific time. All available with discounted tuition through Homeschooling for College Credit’s HS4CC Academy. Happy planning!

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The difference between homeschooling K-8 and high school is the requirement to keep a high school transcript. This is a big and intimidating process if it’s your first time, but it’s not our first time. We got you. Investing a half hour now will cover you for most of high school, and you’ll be SO GLAD you have this off your plate as your student begins high school.

If you’ve ever heard people talking about “degree plans” and didn’t understand what that meant, this post is for you. A degree plan is simply a list of very carefully selected courses that line up to a specific degree. This is usually done using very low-cost credit with the intention of enrolling later and having a good portion of the degree finished before starting. In this example, I wanted to use our new Scholarship from Google to maximize a degree that incorporates as much credit from Google as possible. I’m excited to show you what I landed on!

Continue reading “Management Degree: 75% for <$1000” →