Homeschooling in Indiana

You can withdraw on any school day. The school cannot require you to register, show proof of a homeschool, or present a curriculum first, and it cannot stop or delay the withdrawal. If you never tell the school, your child may be reported as truant.

What the letter says

• Your child's full name, grade, and school
• That you are withdrawing your child to homeschool
• The date homeschooling begins
• Your signature and the date

High school students

The high school form is not a registration; it lets the school remove your child from its graduation cohort. Without it, your child is counted as a dropout, and the principal may report your child to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), which can revoke or refuse a learner's permit or driver's license. Elementary and middle school families sign no special form.

IDOE offers an optional online homeschool registration that sends a verification email. If you have one, attach it to the high school form; if not, the form is complete with your signature. You are entitled to a copy of your child's school records under state law and federal privacy law.

The daily attendance record is the only record Indiana requires. IDOE does not accept, keep, or validate homeschool records.

A short record still helps in two situations:

• Returning to a public school, where placement and credit depend on what you can show
• Applying to college, which reads a transcript you sign as the school's administrator

IDOE strongly recommends keeping records of the courses taught through high school for colleges and employers, though state law does not require them.

State law requires no testing of homeschooled children. IDOE recommends periodic standardized achievement testing, which you can arrange privately if you wish.

Statewide tests such as ILEARN and IREAD are not open to homeschool students unless your child is enrolled in at least one class at a public or accredited school.

A homeschooled student who is at least 16 may take the High School Equivalency (HSE) exam, run by the Department of Workforce Development, to earn a state-issued credential. Sports and a return to public school can each call for a test; both are explained below.

Every school district must find and evaluate children with disabilities who live in it, homeschooled children included (34 CFR 300.111). To start, ask your public school corporation's special education director, in writing, for an evaluation.

IDOE says that under federal law, children with disabilities enrolled in homeschools have the same genuine opportunity to take part in federally funded special education programs through the public schools as children in accredited non-public schools. That means equitable services: the school corporation decides, after consultation, which services it provides from its share of federal funds, and an eligible child receives a services plan rather than the full individualized education program (IEP) an enrolled student receives.

A child with an IEP may still be homeschooled, and some services may continue through the previous school; IDOE recommends discussing how with the school's special education director.

Part-time classes

Whether a homeschooled student may take one or more classes at the local public school is a local decision; each school corporation sets its own policy.

Indiana's graduation requirements, including Graduation Pathways, apply to accredited schools, not homeschools. You decide the courses and when high school is complete, and you issue the diploma and transcript. A homeschool student does not receive a diploma accredited by the State Board of Education or a diploma from the local school or IDOE.

House Enrolled Act 1348 makes a homeschool diploma or credential legally sufficient proof that the student completed high school. State and local agencies and Indiana colleges may not reject a person or treat them differently based only on the source of that diploma. The person who runs the homeschool may sign any document required to show enrollment, full-time or part-time status, grades, or a transcript.

Work permits

Indiana stopped requiring work permits for minors on July 1, 2021.

Indiana's public colleges and universities may not reject a homeschool graduate, or treat one differently, based only on the fact that the diploma came from a non-accredited non-public school. Each college still applies its own admission standards.

Homeschooled students are not eligible for the 21st Century Scholars program, Indiana's early-commitment scholarship, under state law.

Indiana's dual credit programs are arranged through high schools, so a homeschooled student usually takes college courses by applying directly to a college as a high school student, under that college's admission, placement, and tuition rules.

Homeschool dual enrollment in Indiana

Participation in public school sports and other extracurricular activities is a local decision. Under Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Rule 12-5 for 2026-27, a homeschooled student may be eligible at the public school serving the student's residence if:

• the student has been enrolled in the homeschool for the previous three years in succession;
• the student completes any statewide examinations IDOE authorizes;
• the homeschool shows the student meets the IHSAA scholarship rule each grading period;
• the student enrolls in and attends at least one full-credit subject in the school building; and
• the school and the student show the IHSAA that the spirit of the eligibility rules is not compromised.

The rule does not require any public school to enroll a homeschooler or accept one onto a team.

Homeschool sports eligibility in Indiana

Indiana allows a state income tax deduction of $1,000 for each dependent child who is homeschooled or in a private school, in a year you spend money on education costs such as curricula, textbooks, workbooks, software, fees, tutoring materials, and school supplies other than personal computers. A married couple gets one deduction per child.

The Indiana Education Scholarship Account (INESA) serves students with disabilities and their siblings who leave the public school system. Awards vary by disability level and district, up to about $20,000 for a student with a disability and $8,000 for a sibling, and pay approved expenses such as curriculum, tutoring, individual classes, testing fees, and therapies through an online account. The program moved to IDOE on July 1, 2026, and applications open March 1.

Homeschool tax breaks and funding in Indiana

The public school corporation where you live must enroll your child when you return. A charter school may have a waiting list, and a private accredited school applies its own admissions. The school decides placement and is not required to accept homeschool work.

In kindergarten through grade 8, IDOE gives schools three examples: placement by age with a peer group, placement by what your child has already mastered, or an achievement test for the expected grade.

In grades 9 through 12, your child should be placed in the grade that matches the credits the school accepts. You may submit test results, attendance records, and the curriculum you used; without records, your child may be evaluated another way. The school may have a committee decide what credit to award, give end-of-course exams for each course under consideration, or give an achievement test.

If a question of educational neglect arises, IDOE says good attendance records and documentation of continuing educational activity are highly instrumental in answering it.

The school cannot push you to homeschool a child who is behind or facing suspension or expulsion; that decision is yours. A parent of an expelled student is not required to homeschool if no other enrollment option is available.