While the common stereotype is that homeschooling is largely a white pursuit, the evidence indicates that the homeschooling population is actually quite diverse.
By Alanna Bjorklund-Young and Angela R. Watson, October 2025
A more comprehensive understanding of the real “who” of homeschooling is important because people may feel excluded from homeschooling if they have a misconception of who is actually homeschooling. Similarly, policies may be focused on a specific group when many others are actually impacted.
Due to the lack of state-level data collection on the demographic characteristics of U.S. homeschoolers, exact estimates of the racial composition of this student population are unknown. In fact, only Delaware collects and reports data on race and ethnicity for homeschool students.
During the 2022-23 school year, a total of 3,467 students were enrolled in homeschools in Delaware. Of those students, 68% were Caucasian, 11% were African American, 8% were Hispanic/Latinx, 12% were multi-racial, and 1% were Asian. In the following school year, 2023-24, the number of homeschooled students increased to 4,466. The percentages of students by race and ethnicity changed slightly, with 66% Caucasian, 12% African American, 10% Hispanic/Latinx, 11% multi-racial, and 1% Asian, indicating growing diversity reflective of the broader population, at least in this one state. While this information is important, it does not provide a picture of national participation.
Luckily, estimates generated from nationally representative surveys are available. However, these surveys provide differing views of homeschool population diversity. According to data from the National Household Education Survey (NHES), the proportion of students of color has modestly increased over the last two decades. The NHES estimates that 29% of the current homeschool population is comprised of students of color. Data from the Household Pulse Survey, on the other hand, suggests that these estimates may be as high as 40%.
NHES
The NHES is a nationally representative survey of 5 to 17-year-olds in kindergarten through 12th grade enrolled in physical schools, virtual schools, or homeschools across the U.S. The NHES was developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in 1991 as a household survey to provide information about student learning outside of formal education and to provide a family-based perspective of education.
Using estimates from the 1998-99 school year through the 2022-23 school year, we found that the proportion of homeschooled students of color has increased, but modestly, from 25% during the 1998-99 school year to 29% in 2022-23. In other words, the share of white homeschoolers decreased by four percentage points across this time period, mirrored by an increase in the share of homeschoolers of color by four percentage points.
It is worth noting that the NHES survey has been halted and the valuable information provided is no longer available.
Household Pulse Survey
We also use data from another nationally representative survey, the Household Pulse Survey, which provides a different view of current homeschool participation. The Household Pulse Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, was developed in response to COVID-19 to measure the effects of the pandemic on U.S. households.
According to data for the 2022-23 school year, 60% of survey respondents with homeschooled students were white, 19% were Hispanic/Latinx, 12% were Black, 2% were Asian, and 7% were two or more or other races. This data indicates that roughly 40% of all current homeschool students are students of color, suggesting much more diversity in modern homeschooling compared to NHES estimates. Still, the U.S. Census data also shows that about 51% of all school-aged children in the U.S. are students of color. Thus, the data still suggests an over-representation of white students compared to the national population, and an underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latinx, Black, and Asian students.
Pulse data collection is also halted, and it is unclear whether these or similar federal data will be reported in the future.
Additional Survey Estimates
There are other nationally representative surveys that provide valuable information on homeschool participants’ race and ethnicity. For example, recent results from a nationally representative survey of parents, conducted by Morning Consult in partnership with EdChoice and the Johns Hopkins Homeschool Research Lab, indicate that while Black and Hispanic families are underrepresented in the homeschooling population, differences are slight (Watson and Lee, 2025). For example, Hispanic parents made up 22% of the overall sample of parents, but nearly 15% of the homeschool population. So, while there is not one-to-one parity, a notable percentage of Hispanic families are homeschooling their children.
Differing Motivations
Parents choose to homeschool for diverse reasons and this variation in motivation extends to different people groups. For example, while the common stereotype is that most people who choose to homeschool do so for some strong ideology like religious, political, or world view, the most common reason parents cite for homeschooling is safety.
Meaningful cultural connections arise when families realize and enact educational agency, a phenomenon which may be more pronounced for members of non-dominant cultures in the United States. Batts et al. (2024) found that Hispanic/Latina homeschooling parents said preserving or reclaiming their cultural heritage was one of the reasons they began or continued to homeschool. The most cited aspects of their heritage were family, language, and the values of work ethic and resourcefulness. Similarly, Black families may choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons that include empowering families in the education of their children (Johnson, 2024).
Policy Implications
An accurate understanding of the diverse homeschool population is critical for informed policy discussions. Further, when flawed stereotypes are allowed to persist or are even promoted, they may serve to exclude diverse populations who do not see themselves fitting in as homeschool families. Current policies are based on antiquated ideas about who comprises the US homeschooling population and are therefore likely flawed.
What We Can Conclude
Regardless of which estimates are used, the data suggest that while the homeschool population is less diverse than the current U.S. school-aged and public school populations, it is more diverse than common stereotypes portray and increasingly reflects the diversity of the broader population. Additionally, these surveys demonstrate hundreds of thousands of homeschool students of color across the U.S. Therefore, the narratives surrounding homeschooling must be revised to accurately reflect the diverse and nuanced experiences of the students and families who participate in this educational approach.
Data collection is ongoing and we will publish new results as they become available; last updated October 2025.
About the Authors
Alanna Bjorklund-Young
Alanna Bjorklund-Young is the director of research at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and assistant professor of education at Johns Hopkins University. She previously served as a research fellow and an elementary and middle school teacher. Bjorklund’s research focuses on the impact of teachers and support provided to teachers, including training and curriculum. Bjorklund holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University (PhD and MA in economics), City College of New York (MS), and the University of Washington/Seattle (BA in international studies).
Angela R. Watson
Angela R. Watson is an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Education and a senior research fellow at the Institute for Education Policy. She has researched homeschooling for nearly a decade. She has a BA in K-12 education, an MAT, and a PhD in education policy. While she was never a homeschool participant, she has always had an academic interest in homeschooling and other nontraditional modes of education. Watson’s other broad research work includes charter schools, high-quality curriculum as a lever to improve education, and the value of cultural/arts field trips.