Students in Alisha Miiller's Delta College French class did a double take when the 14-year-old told them her age.

"We were going around talking and asking people how old they were, and when we got to her, whoa - people were amazed she was 14," said Pamela Renna, Miiller's French professor.

Miiller is one of six children of Greg and Lori Miiller of Pinconning. The couple have homeschooled all their children.

As a result, some are as many as four academic years ahead of their peers.

That is consistent with a growing trend at community colleges, where more homeschooled high school graduates are enrolling at younger ages, said Duff Zube, director of admissions and records at Delta College.

"We are seeing more and more of this, and that is because more and more students are being homeschooled," he said.

Zube said 70 homeschooled students applied to Delta this school year, and 54 enrolled. That's up from 48 applicants and 44 homeschool graduates who enrolled in 2001-02, and 22 and applicants and 15 homeschool graduates who enrolled in the 1999-2000 school year.

Alisha Miiller scored a 23 on her ACT exam and graduated from high school as a 14-year-old. The average ACT score in Michigan for high school graduates is 21.4 out of a possible 36, according to www.act.org.

Miiller has three semesters remaining at Delta, where she is working on her general education associate's degree. She is planning to transfer to Saginaw Valley State University to major in music education, and hopes to become a piano teacher.

Renna isn't surprised by her student's success, even though she has only known her a few months.

"She is definitely the youngest student I have ever had and just outstanding," she said. "She relates well to other students, and she is doing very well in class. You would never know she is 14."

Students like Miiller don't automatically gain entrance to Delta just because they have their high school diploma.

Zube said often an honors counselor, and representatives from the academic office and student services, will interview a student to gauge maturity.

They also often meet with parents to discuss student transportation to campus and the fact that some subjects are brought up in a college setting that are not brought up in a high school setting. He cited homosexuality in psychology courses, or a figure drawing class that may have nude models, as classes that require a certain amount of maturity.

The Miillers' two oldest sons also entered college early. Sixteen-year-old Caleb attends Delta with his sister. Andrew, 18, is set to graduate from Central Michigan University in May with a bachelor's degree in wildlife biology.

The other children - Shane, 12; Bethany, 7, and Joshua, 5 - all are doing well in homeschool.

Lori Miiller, 39, said she doesn't push her children into the next grade if they are not ready for it. She said her children have done well without the social aspect public and private schools provide.

"It's been working so far for my older three," she said. "We have been really socially active. They have always played on a summer baseball team and sports. We are active in our church."

The family first warmed to the idea of homeschooling when their children started at an all-day kindergarten that ran every other day. Lori Miiller said she and her husband didn't like the idea of skipping a day, and heard from a neighbor who was considering homeschooling.

"We looked into it and never stopped," Lori Miiller said. "We are very committed to it. The job for me is to get my kids the best education they can get."

Alisha and Caleb said they enjoyed the opportunities that homeschooling afforded them.

"I got a lot of one-on-one time," Alisha said. "If I had problems in a certain area, you could pick those subjects up, so that helped a lot."

A benefit to living on a farm has been "material" for anatomy class.

"You don't have any better biology class other than going outside and butchering a chicken," Lori Miiller said.

The kids also learned biology lessons working the garden and mechanics by working on tractors, Caleb Miiller said, which has helped him in the residential construction program at Delta.

"I learned a lot about working on farm engines, butchering, maple syrup," he said. "My dad teaches me to work on the engines; it's good to know."