Local Resource: Skyline Community College

 

Minette Lontsie, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>,
via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

Skyline College is one of three community colleges in the San Mateo Community College District (SMCCD), with a student population of 9000 students. Like the other colleges, it offers classes and certificates including some unique offerings such as auto tech certificates. It is also popular with homeschoolers.   

Skyline is located in San Bruno off Highway 35's Skyline exit. It is also served by SamTrans 121, 141, and SKY which cover Daly City, Colma and South San Francisco; there is also a free Skyline shuttle running hourly between the college and Daly City BART.  For homeschoolers planning to drive/drop off, the good news is that parking is free (as of March 2025) and ample. They should check the parking page to confirm if a permit is needed, and which lots are open for student parking.

Concurrent Enrollment and Middle College

For 2024-2025, homeschoolers 9th grade and above can take up to 11 credits per semester free across all the community colleges in the district; beyond that, they will have to pay tuition of $46/credit (2024-2025 rates) for all credits taken. Courses may be in any discipline and generally students take introductory courses; if a course has pre-requisites students must show they they fulfill them. NOTE: Concurrent enrollment is the term used within SMCCD for this option where homeschoolers take some courses for college credit so be sure to fill out the correct form, see our High School page for instructions.  

Some courses that are distinctive to Skyline: 

• Automotive Technology: Hands-on introductory and consumer courses available
• Barbering, Cosmetology and Estheticians: Hands-on introductory courses.
• Biotechnology: Full lab access, prepares students for biotech manufacturing
• World languages: Includes Spanish, American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, and Filipino.

Another option for homeschoolers is Middle College. Students must belong to one of these districts: South San Francisco Unified School District, the San Mateo Union High School District, and the Jefferson Union High School District.  If accepted, charter and private homeschoolers may need to transfer to one of the schools in their district - we recommend checking if your credits will be accepted.

Under Middle College, juniors or seniors take all their classes on the Skyline campus as part of a 120 student cohort. Three of the classes are high school classes that satisfy high school graduation requirements, others will be integrated courses in American Literature and United States History, and a career exploration class. Students graduate with a high school diploma and credits that transfer toward a Career technical education certificate, an Associate degree, and/or a four-year college. 

Post-Secondary Options

Homeschoolers can also consider enrolling in Skyline after high school. This is also a great option if students are undecided about what to study. To help narrow down interests, Skyline has an interest areas which group related fields together, e.g. Business, Science & Health. Within each page, there are program maps with links to individual areas and careers, as well as coursework and student groups available at the college.

Students interested in the University of California system (UCs) and California State Universities system (CSUs) can also consider completing their general education requirements and transferring into those colleges. The Transfer Center offers different pathways, e.g. TAG for certain UCs or Transfer Success Program for CSUs. The Honors Transfer Program offers priority consideration for transfer students applying to UCLA or UCI, as well as research seminars.

For students interested in options other than 4-year colleges, the college offers several certificates. Some are designed for high school graduates and have no pre-requisites. Distinctives include:

• Administration of Justice: 
• Allied Health:  surgical tech, sterile processing tech, respiratory care, and emergency medical care.
• Automotive Tech: Morning, evening and weekend classes. 
• Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetician: Barbershop, salon and spa on campus open to the public. 
• Paralegal Studies: Opportunities include a community legal clinic and Project Change on campus.

Students who work can also choose to convert some of their working hours into college credit via the Work Experience Education program.

Student Services

There is a wide array of services to support disadvantaged or first generation college students (Foster Youth, Project Change, Promise, TRIO). Students may participate in multiple programs.  

Students can also participate in learning communities where they take classes in common with a cohort. Learning communities can have a common theme, e.g. Kabayan - Filipino, Puente - Latino, Umoja - African American or study areas, e.g. Biology/Chemistry Scholars, Engineering/Technology Scholars. 

There is also a Educational Access Center where students may request assessments for LDs, or assistive technology. 

Reaching Out

Homeschoolers can contact campus outreach for a personal or group tour. On our tour, we found the campus accessible and grouped logically. Key buildings were Building 19 (Student Success including Admissions, Student Services and the Transfer Center), Building 5 (Learning Center including Educational Access), Building 7 (STEM) and Building 11 (Auto Tech). 

The Outreach program also runs a Priority Registration event every semester - we recommend attending these to get all the paperwork done in one go.