2021-22 Undergraduate Academic Catalog

Procedures to Evaluate the Validity of High School Completion If the institution or the secretary has reason to believe that a student’s high school diploma is not valid or was not obtained from an entity that provides secondary school education, the Registrar’s office, in conjunction with Admissions, will pursue the following procedures to evaluate the validity: • Seek and receive documentation from the secondary school that confirms the validity of the student’s diploma; and • Confirm with and/or receive documentation from the relevant department or agency in the state in which the secondary school is located that the secondary school is recognized as a provider of secondary school education. Proof of High School Graduation Prior to matriculation at Cedarville, each accepted student must send to the Cedarville Registrar’s office a final, official high school transcript. To be final and official, the transcript must include the following: • A full month/day/year graduation date (NOT exit date, leave date, or withdraw date) • An official school seal and/or an original, handwritten signature • Four full years of courses, grades, and credits While electronic transcripts verified through a service such as Docufide/Parchment, Scoir, or eSCRIP-SAFE are official, transcripts sent as an attachment to an email or uploaded directly to the application file, unfortunately, do not meet the requirements for an official transcript. We cannot accept a transcript that is prepared and sent before graduation. The Office of the Registrar contacts all students who have not provided an official final transcript prior to enrollment to request their assistance in providing this information by a firm date. A registration restriction is activated for any students who do not meet the specified deadline. This prevents them from registering for a future term without first providing an official copy of their final high school transcript. General Education Diploma (GED) or High School Equivalency Diploma: If an applicant has not earned a diploma from a secondary program, an HSE or GED is required. The academic areas of the examination are reviewed in light of the general requirements for admission. Homeschooled Students Transcript Policy Homeschooled students fit right in at Cedarville University, partly because Cedarville provides the same values-centered education. Cedarville’s homeschool graduates pursue majors in numerous fields such as engineering, broadcasting, Bible, music, political science, education, biology, history, communications, nursing, criminal justice, multimedia technology, and professional writing and information design, and nearly half hold a 3.5 GPA or better. Many homeschooled students take on leadership roles at CU. Several student-leaders, dramatic performers, and resident assistants come from a homeschooled background. Beginning with ninth grade, your transcript should include the following information: • Course title (i.e., Algebra I, English 10, etc.) • Grade earned — when providing grade information, be sure to provide a scale that shows the relationship between percentages and earned letter grades, even if you’re only reporting percentages. • Credit earned — the standard measure for awarding credit is the Carnegie Unit, which awards one (1) credit for completion of a full year course that meets daily. A sample transcript is available for your reference upon request from your admission counselor. Because curricula vary from one homeschooling program to another, it’s important for you to provide an explanation of your course of study and your educator’s teaching methods. • Who is ultimately responsible for setting up curriculum and selecting materials? • What type of curriculum and materials did your educator(s) use? • Who was responsible for providing instruction? Did you have tutors in some areas and not in others, etc.? • Who recorded your grades and how? • What type of independent, standardized testing was used to measure your progress against a larger population? (Include copies of this information with your transcript.) We’d also appreciate any additional information that would shed light on your academic experience. Standardized test scores should be reported directly from the ACT or SAT. High School Graduation Date Policy In general, the high school graduation indicated on the high school transcript at the time of admission to either the College Now program or as a first-time freshman may not be changed. In rare circumstances, College Now students, or first-time freshman may encounter difficulties in completing their high school curriculum by the date indicated on the initial transcript. If the circumstances are beyond the control of the student, the student may submit a written request for a change in the graduation date to Admissions. The request should include a letter of explanation from school officials along with an updated transcript containing the new graduation date. A committee consisting of the Director of Undergraduate Admissions and the Registrar will review the request for a change to the graduation date. If a student has completed all needed college preparatory courses to be considered a high school graduate, the request will not be granted. Cedarville University will not make a change in graduation year simply based on the financial advantage it may create for an applicant. The University reserves the right to make a final determination about graduation dates. 2021–22 Undergraduate Academic Catalog Page 15 Admissions Undergraduate Admission Policies