{"id":630,"date":"2023-12-21T20:14:25","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T20:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education.jhu.edu\/edpolicy\/?post_type=us_state&p=630"},"modified":"2026-06-04T22:50:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:50:55","slug":"indiana","status":"publish","type":"us_state","link":"https:\/\/education.jhu.edu\/edpolicy\/policy-research-initiatives\/homeschool-hub\/states\/indiana\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

History<\/h2>\n

Indiana is in the midwestern United States. Homeschooling was first legalized in 1904 and then refined in 1985 through two key cases; State v. Peterman<\/em><\/a>\u202f(1904) and Mazanec v. North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1985). Homeschooling existed long before the state legalized the practice; American President Abraham Lincoln was homeschooled in Indiana in the 1800\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Regulation<\/h2>\n

Indiana<\/a> defines homeschooling as non-public and non-accredited schools where parents or guardians withdraw from public and non-public accredited school options to educate their students. Parents may homeschool their students, ages 7 to 18<\/a>. The state offers one option for homeschooling. There is no requirement to register or report to the local school district or state.<\/p>\n

Homeschool parents are required to keep accurate attendance records<\/a>, which must be provided to the Secretary of Education or district superintendent upon request. The state requires 180 days of instruction<\/a> per year. There are no subject requirements, testing requirements, or parental education minimums.<\/p>\n

Access<\/a> for nonpublic school students, including homeschooled students, is not guaranteed to public school courses or extracurriculars. The district superintendent or administrative authority must approve a student\u2019s enrollment.<\/span>\u00a0Homeschooled students who enroll in at least one public school course and who meet other requirements may participate in high school athletics. Access to special education services<\/a> is unclear and appears to depend upon local school approval.<\/p>\n

State Data<\/h2>\n

Indiana cannot report homeschool participation because parents are not required to report, and those who do, do so only once. Nevertheless, there is limited information on homeschool participation in the state through the U.S. Census estimates<\/a>. According to the U.S. Census, around 5.4% of Indiana families homeschooled in the spring of 2020, and increased to 10.0% by the fall of 2020. These percentages are in line with national averages during that time. Based on U.S. Census data<\/a>, our calculations indicate that about 6.88<\/span>% of K-12 students in Indiana<\/span> were homeschooled during the 2022-23 school year, and 7.58<\/span>% during the 2023-24 school year. Due to<\/span> <\/span>survey<\/span> changes<\/span>, the<\/span> data from 2020<\/span> reflects<\/span> the percentage of households, while <\/span>the data from <\/span>following years<\/span> reflect<\/span>s the percentage of<\/span> students<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDownload Homeschool Hub State Data<\/span><\/a>\n

Cross-Sector Comparison<\/h2>\n

A cross-sector comparison cannot be calculated due to missing homeschool data.<\/p>\n

School Choice Context<\/h2>\n

In addition to homeschooling, parents in Indiana have multiple school choice<\/a> options. These include enrollment in traditional public with both inter- and intra-district choice, private, magnet, and charter schools. Indiana has four private school choice programs, including the Private School\/Homeschool Deduction<\/a> which provides an average of $1,840 in tax deductions per family.<\/p>\n

Commentary<\/h2>\n

Indiana could improve educational opportunities for all nonpublic students by expanding access to courses and extracurriculars offered in the local public schools. Other states do this and many provide some funding for these offerings. Indiana is one of few states where the word “homeschool” is included in the title of a school choice funding option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-630","us_state","type-us_state","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"Indiana - Johns Hopkins Homeschool Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy\u2019s Homeschool Hub is your one-stop shop for U.S. homeschooling data and insights. 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