Homeschool Laws in All 50 States (2026)

How this guide is organized

HSLDA categorizes states into four regulation tiers:

1. No notice. No notification to any government entity.
2. Low regulation. Notification to the local school district.
3. Moderate regulation. Notification, test scores, and/or professional evaluation of student progress to the local school district.
4. High regulation. Notification or achievement test scores and/or professional evaluation, plus other requirements (curriculum approval by the state, teacher qualification of parents, or home visits by officials).

The tiers below match that scheme. States with recent changes are flagged in the rightmost column with primary-source links.

The map

Tap any state for what its tier means and a link to the full start-here page. The colors follow the same four-tier scheme as the table below.

The full 50-state table

Entries are stated as of October 2026. The Tier column reports HSLDA’s classification; each other entry links to the statute, state agency page, or program page it summarizes.

The four states in HSLDA’s high-regulation tier

HSLDA places these four states in its high-regulation tier. Families moving into any of them should research compliance before moving.

1. Massachusetts: Prior approval required

Massachusetts requires prior approval from the superintendent or the school committee before a child is taught at home. G.L. c. 76, §1 excuses from attendance a child who is “otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance by the superintendent or the school committee.” In Care and Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987), the Supreme Judicial Court held that approval of a home school proposal follows the standard for private schools, which requires instruction that equals the public schools of the same town in “thoroughness and efficiency.” The court identified G.L. c. 71, §§1 to 3 as listing the subjects that must be taught, said approval must be obtained before the child is removed from public school, and said approval may not be conditioned on requirements that are not essential to the State’s interest in educating all children. The Mass.gov law library summary notes that each school committee in Massachusetts has a policy on approval of home schooling plans.

2. New York: IHIP plus quarterly reports

Under New York’s Commissioner’s Regulations §100.10, families must give the school district written notice of intent to home-instruct each year by July 1, submit an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP), provide quarterly reports, and file an annual assessment with the fourth quarterly report. The regulation allows the annual assessment to be a commercially published norm-referenced achievement test or, in grades 1 through 8, a written narrative evaluation. In grades 4 through 8 the narrative may be used no more often than every other school year, and in grades 9 through 12 a test is required.

3. Pennsylvania: Portfolio plus qualified evaluator

Under 24 P.S. §13-1327.1, Pennsylvania requires an affidavit filed annually by August 1 with the superintendent of the school district of residence, a portfolio that includes a log of the reading materials used and samples of the student’s work, and an annual written evaluation of the student’s educational progress by a licensed clinical or school psychologist, a teacher certified by the Commonwealth, or a nonpublic school teacher or administrator with at least two years of teaching experience in a Pennsylvania public or nonpublic school within the last ten years. Pennsylvania Department of Education guidance describes the filing as a notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration, and the statute requires that in grades 3, 5, and 8 the portfolio include the results of nationally normed standardized achievement tests or the Statewide tests.

4. Rhode Island: Local school committee approval

Rhode Island Department of Education guidance states that approval of at-home instruction occurs exclusively at the local school district level and that the plan must comply with R.I. Gen. Laws §16-19-2. That statute approves at-home instruction only when the period of attendance is “substantially equal to that required by law in public schools,” attendance registers are kept, and reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, the history of the United States, the history of Rhode Island, and the principles of American government are taught in a way that is “thorough and efficient.” RIDE adds that the parent and the local school committee should agree on how the child’s academic progress will be evaluated.

Vermont: annual assessment retained by the family

HSLDA places Vermont in its moderate-regulation tier. Under H.461 (Act 66), which the Governor approved on June 14, 2023, families are no longer required to submit end-of-year assessments to the Agency of Education, effective July 1, 2023. An assessment must still be completed each year and retained in family records: permitted means include a standardized assessment, a review by a Vermont-licensed teacher, or a parent report and portfolio with at least four samples of student work. Under 16 V.S.A. §166b, families must also attest that each child will be provided the equivalent of at least 175 days of instruction in the minimum course of study.

Five no-notice states

1. Texas: No state registration or approval

In Leeper v. Arlington ISD (Tex. 1994), the Texas Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision that children taught at home are exempt from the compulsory attendance requirement to the same extent as students enrolled in private schools. The Texas Education Agency homeschool page states that the agency does not regulate, index, monitor, approve, register, or accredit home school programs, that parents who home school must follow a course of study that includes good citizenship, and that a district that becomes aware of a potentially home-schooled student may request a letter of assurance from the parents in writing. Homeschool students who participate in TEFA may receive up to $2,000 per year for 2026-27.

2. Idaho: No registration, compulsory age 7 to 16

The Idaho State Department of Education states that Idaho does not regulate or monitor homeschool education and that no registration or sign-up procedure is required. Under Idaho Code §33-202, a parent or guardian must cause a child who has reached age 7 when school commences in the district, but not age 16, to be instructed in subjects commonly taught in the public schools, either by private instruction at the parent’s direction or by enrollment in a public, charter, private, or parochial school.

3. Oklahoma: Not regulated

The Oklahoma State Department of Education states that homeschools are not regulated and that Oklahoma law does not require parents to register with or seek approval from state or local officials, conduct state testing with their students, or permit public school officials to visit or inspect homes. The compulsory attendance provision of Article XIII, §4 of the Oklahoma Constitution applies “unless other means of education are provided,” as does 70 O.S. §10-105. Beginning in tax year 2024, the Parental Choice Tax Credit allows a refundable income tax credit of up to $1,000 per eligible homeschooled student for qualified expenses.

4. Alaska: No notification or assessment conditions

Alaska Stat. §14.30.010(b)(12) provides that compulsory attendance does not apply to a child who “is being educated in the child’s home by a parent or legal guardian.” That exemption contains no notification, parent-qualification, instruction-time, subject, or assessment conditions. (Alaska also provides correspondence-study, certificated-tutor, and private-school pathways with separate rules in the same section.)

5. Illinois: Private-school treatment

Illinois treats homeschools as private schools: the Illinois State Board of Education cites the Illinois Supreme Court’s 1950 decision in People v. Levisen, which held that home schooling could be considered private schooling if the teacher is competent, the required subjects are taught, and the student receives an education at least equivalent to public schooling. The Illinois State Board of Education states that Illinois does not require parents to register before they begin home schooling or require standardized tests. Under 105 ILCS 5/26-1, a child in a private school must be taught the branches of education taught in the public schools, in the English language. In 2025, HB 2827, the Homeschool Act as introduced, would have required a Homeschool Declaration Form and treated a student whose homeschool administrator had not submitted it as truant. The bill drew 40,536 witness slips in opposition, and its last recorded action is its re-referral to the House Rules Committee on April 11, 2025.

Church and private school enrollment

In some states, a child enrolled in a church or private school is treated separately from a registered home education student. The Tennessee Department of Education calls its Category IV version a church-related umbrella school.

• Alabama exempts a child attending a church school from compulsory attendance before age 16 under Ala. Code §16-28-3, provided the child complies with the enrollment and reporting procedures specified in §16-28-7. Under Ala. Code §16-28-7, the enrollment and attendance of a child in a church school is filed with the local public school superintendent on a form the parent returns after the church school administrator countersigns it.
• Tennessee permits some Category IV church-related schools to run home school umbrella programs in which parents teach under the supervision of the school’s director. The Tennessee Department of Education states that the umbrella school is responsible for record keeping, attendance reporting, and testing, and that an intent-to-home-school form is not required for students enrolled in one. Under Tenn. Code Ann. §49-6-3050(a)(2)(A), K-12 home schools enrolled with a church-related school supervised by the school’s director that administer or offer standardized achievement tests are exempt from that section.
• Florida students enrolled in a private school located in Florida are not required to register as home education students with their district, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Recent changes that matter

• Illinois HB 2827 (2025): As introduced, the Homeschool Act would have required a Homeschool Declaration Form and treated students without one as truant. Per the Illinois General Assembly bill status, the bill was re-referred to the House Rules Committee on April 11, 2025, which is its last recorded action.
• Vermont (2023): Act 66 / H.461 removed the requirement to submit end-of-year assessments to the Agency of Education effective July 1, 2023. Families still choose an annual assessment method and retain the results, per the Agency of Education.
• Kentucky (November 2024): Constitutional Amendment 2, which would have allowed public funds for non-public education, was defeated statewide.
• New Hampshire (2025 and 2026): SB 295 (2025) removed the 350%-of-poverty income threshold, so RSA 194-F:1 now defines an eligible student as any resident eligible to enroll in a public school (amendment effective June 10, 2025). HB 1268 (Chapter 297, approved July 10, 2026, effective July 1, 2026) made a declaration of home education optional except upon withdrawal from a public school or to access public school programs, and repealed the home education records and evaluation requirement, according to RSA 193-A.
• Texas (May 2025): SB 2 (89th Legislature) was signed by the Governor on May 3, 2025, effective September 1, 2025. TEFA first-year awards cover the 2026-27 school year.
• Arkansas (2023, rollout 2025-26): The LEARNS Act Education Freedom Account became universally eligible for K-12 students in the 2025-26 school year, and the program’s handbook includes a homeschool option.
• Alabama (2024, first year 2025-26): The CHOOSE Act refundable-credit ESA began for 2025-26 at $2,000 per student in a home education program, capped at $4,000 per family. Under the Act as enacted, the 300 percent of federal poverty level income limit applies to credits for the years beginning January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026, and for years beginning on or after January 1, 2027 the credit is available to any parent of an eligible student.
• Louisiana (2025): LDOE announced that LA GATOR student applications for the 2025-26 school year would be open March 1 to April 15. Under LDOE policy, a participating student may not take part concurrently in a BESE-approved home study program or in a home study program registered with LDOE as a nonpublic school not seeking state approval.
• West Virginia (2026-27): The Hope Scholarship is open to all West Virginia K-12 students for 2026-27, including existing private school and traditional homeschool students not previously eligible; the West Virginia Treasurer projects the award at $5,435.62 per student under existing statutory language.
• Wyoming (2025): The Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act (HB 199) was signed March 4, 2025, with $7,000 per year per student. The Wyoming Department of Education reports that the Wyoming Supreme Court lifted the lower court’s injunction, the state is moving forward with the program, and the constitutional challenge continues in district court.
• Ohio (2025): The ACE program has ended; the last day for families to submit claims for reimbursement was October 15, 2025.

Legal defense resources

For compliance disputes with districts, evaluators, or social-service investigators, one national option is the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), whose published membership price is $150 per year when paid yearly (retrieved October 2026).

Every Homeschool recommends HSLDA as one resource among several: a state organization for day-to-day compliance questions, and HSLDA or private counsel for disputes. HSLDA states that it advocates for homeschooling in state legislatures, which some families may not want from a legal-defense provider. State organizations include the Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV), Illinois Christian Home Educators, and the Texas Home School Coalition.