Homeschool reimbursement and benefits in Missouri

Independent homeschooling is not a qualifying MOScholars school route. 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

MOScholars, the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program, is the state's scholarship. Its law lists the kinds of schools where scholarship money can go, and a home school is not on that list. Nonprofit groups called Educational Assistance Organizations (EAOs) award it to students who have an IEP (an individualized education plan under federal special education law) or who live in a household earning no more than 300 percent of the free and reduced lunch income standard. Students who qualify by income must meet one more test, such as attending a public school full time for at least one semester in the past 12 months.

The home-based route is an FPE (Family Paced Education) school. State law defines it as a school whose main purpose is private or religious instruction, that charges no tuition, and that enrolls no more than four children who are not close relatives. FPE students apply through an EAO, and the school must agree never to share scholarship funds with the parent.

If you save in MOST 529, the state's plan, it says a Missouri taxpayer owes no federal or state tax on a K-12 distribution, up to $20,000 per student per year as of January 1, 2026.

Local help in Missouri

The local programs we have checked across the state cover transportation, recreation, college and dual credit, library resources, sports and activities, school services, and other services. 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

No annual homeschool registration required. If withdrawing from public school, a written notice requesting removal from its rolls documents the change.

• Subjects: For students under 16, offer at least 1,000 hours of instruction: 600 in reading, language arts, math, social studies, science, or related courses, including 400 at the regular homeschool location. The statutory hours and recordkeeping rules do not apply at age 16 or older.
• Testing: Missouri does not require standardized testing for homeschoolers.
• Records: For students under 16, keep a subject and activity record, a work-sample portfolio, and progress evaluations, or equivalent written or credible evidence.
• Teachers: No state teaching-license or degree requirement for a homeschool instructor.

Read the Missouri homeschooling guide