The good-student discount, when there's no school to sign the form

The unequal bar — and the precedent that moved it

On the published test routes, a homeschooled student needs a national standardized-test score in the upper 20% — roughly the bar for an A-student — while a schooled student qualifies with about a B-minus average or honor-roll standing. That gap is the family's real grievance here, and it has been contested honestly, twice, in public:

• HEAV (Virginia): Virginia Farm Bureau held homeschooled students to a stricter bar than schooled students. After HEAV's advocacy, the company changed its guideline to accept “a parent-generated grade report or transcript with qualifying grades.”
• HSLDA (Illinois): an underwriter refused a parent-issued report card. One letter — citing precedent and other insurers' acceptance of parent certification — and “within a few days… the underwriter had accepted their report card.”

The honest lesson from both: underwriters do accept parent-issued records when the document is legible and defended. The agent is intake; underwriting decides; and underwriting demonstrably moves.

Carrier by carrier: what their own pages publish

Travelers — the document route

Travelers is the plainest published fit for a family-issued record, because its route runs on documents rather than a test. Its good-student discount page lists, among accepted documentation, “a home-school certification signed by a parent and co-signed by a home-school certifying body, such as the state's department of education, if applicable” — alongside alternatives such as a report card or an honor-roll certificate.

Two honest notes on that clause. First, the parent-signed certification is the half the family fully controls: a legible, sealed, checkable document. Second, the “certifying body” Travelers names is an authority like a state department of education — “if applicable.” A witness co-signature on an Eformogi record (a named teacher, tutor, or evaluator signing a specific course) is adjacent evidence that a named human stands behind the work. It is not that certifying body, and this page does not claim it satisfies the clause.

State Farm — the test route

For enrolled students, State Farm's teen car-insurance page publishes the familiar bars: a 3.0 GPA, honor-roll standing, or standing in the upper fifth of the class. For homeschoolers, the same page says students “may also qualify with other options, such as submitting evidence they've taken certain national standardized tests administered within the past 12 months and ranked in the upper 20%.” Evidence to keep: the official score report, dated within the last 12 months.

Nationwide — the test route

Nationwide's good-student discount page describes standard proof as a grade card or a form signed by a school administrator. For homeschooled students it says “the results from a standardized test, such as the PSAT, SAT or ACT, may be used,” and sets the bar at the upper 20% of that test's national performance. Evidence to keep: the score report showing the national percentile.

American Family — the test route

American Family's student-discount page includes students who “scored in the upper 20% in a nationally recognized academic achievement test, including the SAT or ACT” within the past 12 months. Evidence to keep: the dated score report.

Farm Bureau — the test route, on their own form

Farm Bureau's good-student credit form carries a section headed “For Homeschooled Students Only,” accepting scores in the upper 20% on the “PSAT; PLAN; SAT-I; ACT; TAP; or the California Achievement Test” in the preceding year. At renewal, the same form asks for the “most recent grade transcript, report card or similar official document” — which is what a family-issued transcript is, presented plainly as family-issued. The form is also explicit about where its route ends: “Please return completed form to your Farm Bureau agent.” Ask your agent for the current form.

USAA — published description, to confirm directly

Per the description on USAA's good-student discount page — which we could not re-check directly, so confirm with USAA before relying on it — the routes described pair a national exam score in the upper 20% “administered in a controlled setting” with an alternative of a “letter grade average of B or higher on a report card issued by the associated public school or certified teacher,” with a form and annual reconfirmation. USAA membership itself has its own eligibility rules; take all of this to USAA directly.

GEICO and Progressive — nothing published, which is not a no

GEICO's student-discounts page asks for a “B average or better” and publishes no document format and no homeschool provision either way. Progressive's published materials describe a full-time student aged 22 or younger with a B average, proved by a report card, dean's-list letter, or transcript — and publish no homeschool route. An absence is not a refusal; it means the question lands with your agent. How to ask: bring a legible parent-issued record, note that other carriers publish homeschool routes — Travelers publishes a parent-signed certification route — and ask what their underwriter needs to see. That is the exact shape of the letter that flipped the Illinois underwriter in the HSLDA case above.

Each carrier's own page or form, linked above, is the source of truth for its requirements; discount decisions are always the carrier's. Policy last reviewed 2026-08.

What to say to your agent

The whole ask fits in one sentence:

“Here is my student's verified good-student letter; the carrier's published requirements are quoted on it, and their page is linked. Can you apply the good-student discount?”

Proof travels the way it always has: to your agent, or through the carrier's document portal. No insurer has a feed from any school registrar — every carrier works from documents submitted to it, which is why legibility matters more than issuer authority. Farm Bureau's own form says it in their words: “Please return completed form to your Farm Bureau agent.”

If the first answer is “we need the school's form”: in a homeschool, the parent is the program administrator and signs as such. If the answer is still no, the HEAV and HSLDA precedents above are the honest reference point — published refusals have flipped when the document was legible and defended.

The verified good-student letter

The letter is generated from the family's record in Eformogi — the same record behind the family-issued transcript. What it contains:

• The student, school year, and the courses as recorded on the family-issued transcript.
• A GPA computed on a stated 4.0 scale, weighted by credit. A course whose grade or credit can't be read as a standard value is listed as recorded but never counted, and the exclusion count is printed — a number is never guessed.
• Optionally, an “addressed to” section for a specific carrier, quoting that carrier's own published requirement with the source stated and an explicit not-affiliated line.
• A verify footer: the receipt id and public verify link of the transcript behind the letter, so an agent or underwriter can check the underlying record in any browser — free, no account, no login.

See what the insurer would see when they open a verify link: a live example transcript, as a receiver sees it. Verification proves the document wasn't altered after issuance and shows witness co-signatures by name; whether the record qualifies for a discount is always the carrier's decision.

Frequently asked questions

College policy guides: Fordham · SUNY New Paltz · Binghamton · Pace · Mercy · SUNY Purchase · all receivers

See also: how to make a homeschool transcript · New York homeschool records · how to write course descriptions