RIVERSIDE —— Describing home-schooled students as a relatively untapped reservoir of talent, UC Riverside is launching an admissions program that aims to recruit and admit more students who did not attend a typical high school.

Campus officials and administrators of home-school programs said the effort is a new trend sure to become more common over the next several years among public universities.

"Historically, there have been instances where some of the top entrants into Ivy League (universities) have been home-schooled," said Jay Streeter, chief administrative officer of Eagles Peak Charter School. "We thought it was just a matter of time before other people recognized this."

The Vista-based charter enrolls about 650 home-schooled high school students in Riverside and North San Diego counties.

For the coming application season, which runs from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, UC Riverside will allow home-schooled students seeking admission to turn in a portfolio detailing their high school work along with their application and essay. The portfolio will be used to help a faculty committee determine whether the student should be admitted.

"Home-schooled students deserve a chance to be considered for the UC system and accepted if they are qualified," said UC Riverside spokeswoman Kris Lovekin. "Since other high school students have their transcripts to show that they took the required courses, home-school students should have a chance to show what kind of work they did during their high school years."

While home-schooled students have always been able to attend a UC campus if their SAT scores were well above par, this is the first year UC Riverside has sought the portfolios as part of the admissions process, and it's the only campus in the UC system to do so thus far.

"We are specifically looking for them," said chemistry professor Keith Hollis, who helped develop the program and who, along with his wife, teaches his four children at home. "In the past, the UC (admissions policy was) not as friendly to home-schooled students."

The university does not keep records on how many home-schooled students have enrolled at the campus in the past, but the outreach program and modified admissions policy will likely increase its enrollment of them, Lovekin said.

Zeroing in on the students is an idea faculty members have talked about for years, said professor of computer science and engineering Frank Vahid, who, along with his wife, also home-schools his three children.

"It's a pretty recent trend in education, and I don't think most public universities have figured out how to attract and admit that population," Vahid said. "I think we are one of the first public schools that has set up an actual process."

To get the word out to families who teach their children at home, Lovekin said, officials are making a concerted effort to reach out through Web sites and blogs, as well as an information session from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 12 at the campus, 900 University Ave., in Riverside.

In addition to students schooled at home, UC Riverside officials are accepting applications from students who did not complete a traditional high school curriculum and do not have a way to show their completion of the subjects required for regular admission to the UC system. For example, students who studied online through a charter school, Lovekin said.

"We can appreciate the education they are getting," Hollis said. "(Home-schooled students) learn to work independently. It gives them a level of maturity that is very beneficial in their first year as an undergraduate. … They are just as smart and creative as students educated in traditional high school settings."

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.

CALLING ALL HOME-SCHOOL APPLICANTS

UC Riverside is launching an admissions program that aims to recruit and admit more students who did not attend a typical high school. For the coming application season, which runs from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, UC Riverside will allow home-schooled students seeking admission to turn in portfolios detailing their high school work along with their applications and essays.

For more information:

n VISIT: www.futurestudents.ucr.edu/prospective/Nontraditional.aspx

n ATTEND: meeting; 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 12 at the campus, 900 University Ave., Riverside.