The actual question that came to me this week was: I have a son who lives in Singapore. Can he study in an online school and gain admission into a US university?

For a question that is only two sentences, there are a number of factors that come into play here. First off, the easy answer to this question is yes. Well, probably yes. Some things that you will want to address, though:

1. Is the online high school accredited by a U.S. regional or national accreditor? You will want to be particularly careful with this requirement because there are indeed fake accreditors. While there a few online high schools that are deemed acceptable to U.S. universities and are not accredited, it is best to avoid this issue. Why? Because you are already looking for special dispensation (that whole living abroad thing). No reason to give them further reasons to reject you.
2. Does the online high school have a history of sending its students to universities? People earn online high school diplomas for a variety of reasons. Some online high school are more “college prep” than others. Some online high schools provide lists on their websites of colleges to which their graduates have been accepted. This is worth exploring.
3. Which online high schools are good choices if you are living abroad and want to eventually go to a U.S. university? Certainly online high schools that are related  to  universities  are  good  choices. That being said, there are other schools that have long histories of sending students off  to  university.
4. Have you done your due diligence? Select a few possibilities based on these priorities and call potential universities. With regard to online high schools, you will likely find some universities that care, some that do not, and many that are somewhere in the middle. It’s best to know where your universities of choice land on this issue.

So really what I am saying is, yes, it can work out for your son (and for others), but it’s important to do your homework first. Don’t assume based on this blog post alone that everything will work out. Make sure you understand the issue.