As the number of homeschooling families in the nation continues to rise, more homeschooled students are being admitted to Penn State than ever before, university admissions officials said.

"Penn State is now considered a homeschool-friendly university," said Assistant Director of the Division of Admission Services and Evaluations Anne Rohrbach. "With our multi-campus system, many homeschool students find it easy to find a campus that's close to home where they feel they best fit."

Rohrbach said that this year, about 65 of the 45,000 applications received were from homeschooled students. She added that while the university does not keep statistics of homeschooled applicants, 65 applicants is about double the number of last year's applicants.

Homeschooler Kurt Kroeker, 18, of State College, said one of the reasons he chose to attend University Park this fall is because his home is close. However, he said it will be a big adjustment after having been homeschooled for 13 years.

Jodi Vender, a doctoral candidate in geography, is researching the geography of homeschooling in America and said that 2 percent of the nation's population is composed of homeschoolers.

Chris Klicka, senior counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), said that about 10 years ago, colleges were more skeptical about admitting home-schooled applicants because they didn't have any qualifying paperwork or class rank.

Michelle Hoffman of State College, leader of Centre County Christian Homeschoolers and a mother of eight, said Pennsylvania requires parents to provide a portfolio of their children's work that must then be evaluated by a certified teacher and a local school superintendent.

Rohrbach said Penn State strongly relies on these evaluation comments to determine whether or not a student is an eligible candidate for acceptance into the university.

Sarah Haug, 36, of Pendleton, Ore., lived in State College with her husband, Daniel B. Haug, for four-and-a-half years, and began to homeschool her children here during that time.

She said the homeschool approach to learning is right for her family because she believes that teaching at home provides children with a very specialized and personalized education.

Thirteen-year-old Brynne Haug has already written a 200-page book, and 12-year-old Carew Haug taught himself how to build an electric-powered Transformer on the Haugs' kitchen table one day after checking out books on Thomas Edison from their local library. Both children did so on their own merits, their mother said.

"They are far ahead of their peers in schools," Sarah said. "They just devour adult books -- they read at a college level."

Ian Slatter, HSLDA media relations director, said that home-schooled children on average score 20 to 30 points above the national average on standardized tests.

"Colleges are obviously seeking high-quality students -- and many home schooled students are just that," he said. "That's not surprising considering that they get to enjoy their education and get to have curriculum formulated specifically to cater to their needs."

Kroeker said that the state's tough evaluation requirements set a standard of excellence for homeschooled students.

Klicka said that many colleges are now starting to realize that an education at home can be just as rigorous and just as rich as one that any educational institution could offer.