Homeschool reimbursement and benefits in Colorado

No state homeschool tax credit, deduction, or ESA. Local programs can still help with specific costs and services.

By Andrew Garber, founder of TheHomeschoolingCompany. Reviewed August 25, 2026.

What public funding exists, and what it asks of you

The statewide route is a part-time program for homeschool students, run by a school district, a charter school, or a BOCES (a board of cooperative services, which serves several districts). Your child stays a homeschooler while attending part of the day. The state funds only one part-time program per student, and children in private school full time cannot join. Going forward, you must file a yearly notice of intent to homeschool with a school district to enroll.

These programs cannot pay for your own purchases. The state education department lists ski passes, museum memberships, and funds for your own curriculum as things they cannot buy.

State law also gives your child the same right as enrolled students to join extracurricular and interscholastic activities at a public school. The school cannot require a class first, unless the activity extends a course, such as a performing arts group.

On taxes, Colorado treats a 529 withdrawal for K-12 expenses as non-qualifying, so you must add it back to your taxable income. The state tax department advises against deducting contributions you expect to spend on K-12.

Local help in Colorado

The local programs we have checked across the state cover recreation, college and dual credit, grants and scholarships, school services, other services, library resources, transportation, and testing and assessments. Each local program sets its own rules for who qualifies. Search your ZIP code to see the ones that serve your address.

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The state's homeschool rules

Give written notice to a Colorado school district 14 days before starting and each year the program continues. Notice is not required before age 6; instruction need not begin until age 7 or continue after age 16.

• Subjects: Provide at least 172 days of instruction averaging four instructional contact hours daily, covering reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, history, civics, literature, science, and regular instruction in the U.S. Constitution.
• Testing: Academic evaluation in grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11: standardized test or evaluation by a qualified person.
• Records: Permanently keep attendance, test or evaluation results, and required immunization records; produce them on 14 days’ written notice when the superintendent has probable cause to believe the program is noncompliant.
• Teachers: Instruction is provided by a parent or legal guardian, or an adult relative designated by the parent; no teaching license is required.

Read the Colorado homeschooling guide