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1 Nov 2016
Report

Homeschooling in the United States: 2012

Jeremy Redford and Danielle Battle

Since 1999, the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences, has collected nationally representative data that can be used to estimate the number of homeschooled students in the United States.

This report provides estimates of the number, percentage, and characteristics of homeschooled students in the United States in 2012 and provides historical context by showing overall estimates of homeschooling in the United States since 1999.

Infographic thumbnail: Homeschooling in the U.S.It also provides homeschooled students’ learning context by examining reasons for homeschooling, sources of curriculum, parent preparation for homeschooling, students’ online course-taking, and math and science subject areas taught to homeschooled students during home instruction. 

National Totals and Characteristics of Homeschooled Students

  • The percentage of students ages 5–17 with a grade equivalent of kindergarten through grade 12 who are homeschooled—the homeschooling rate—has increased over time. In 2012, there were an estimated 1.8 million homeschooled students in the United States, which is an increase from 850,000 in 1999, when estimates were first reported.
  • The homeschooling rate increased from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 3.4 percent in 2012. Most homeschooled students were White (83 percent) and nonpoor (89 percent), lived in rural or suburban areas and cities, and spanned all grade equivalents.

The Learning Context of Homeschooled Students

  • Nine in 10 homeschooled students’ parents reported that concern about schools’ environments was an important reason for their decision to homeschool.
  • Websites, homeschooling catalogs, public libraries, and bookstores were the more frequently cited sources of curriculum for homeschooled students in 2012. Curricula from public and private schools were among the least cited.
  • About a quarter of homeschooled students had parents who took a course to prepare for their child’s home instruction.
  • About a third of middle school-level homeschooled students (35 percent) and a third of high school-level (34 percent) homeschooled students took online courses.
  • Most high-school level homeschooled students had home instruction that included basic algebra (88 percent), earth sciences or geology and biology (69 percent each).

 

Homeschooling in the United States: 2012

Related Projects

Project

National Household Education Survey

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) program provides descriptive data on the educational activities of the U.S. population. The surveys cover learning at all ages, from early childhood to school age through adulthood. AIR’s experts provide support for all aspects of the survey.

Related Work

14 Nov 2016
Infographic

homeschool infographic thumbnail.jpg

Infographic thumbnail: Homeschooling in the U.S.

Homeschooling in the United States

Who’s homeschooled in the U.S.? Why did their parents make that choice? We share the answers to these questions and more in our latest infographic using data from Homeschooling in the United States: 2012 report.
Topic: 
Education, School Climate and Safety
1 Nov 2016
News Release

Homeschooling Increases in the United States, Parents Cite School Environments as a Concern

Homeschooling in the United States increased between 1999 and 2012, although nearly 97 percent of the nation’s 56 million students from kindergarten through high school attend public or private schools, according to a new report from AIR and the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
31 May 2015
Report

Parent and Family Involvement in Education, from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012

This report presents data on students in the United States attending kindergarten through grade 12. The main focus of the report is on parent and family involvement in the students’ education during the 2011–12 school year as reported by the students’ parents.
Topic: 
Education
1 Dec 2008
Brief

Issue Brief: 1.5 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2007

This Issue Brief provides estimates of the number and percentage of homeschooled students in the United States in 2007 and compares these estimates to those from 1999 and 2003.

Topic: 
Education, Early Childhood and Child Development
10 Jul 2004
Brief

Issue Brief: 1.1 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2003

Using data from the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), this Issue Brief estimates the number of homeschooled students in the United States in 2003 and discusses the reasons parents decide to homeschool their children.
Topic: 
Education

Further Reading

  • Homeschooling Increases in the United States, Parents Cite School Environments as a Concern
  • Issue Brief: 1.5 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2007
  • Issue Brief: 1.1 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2003
  • School Choice in the United States: 2019
  • Homeschooling in the United States
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Danielle Battle

Senior Researcher

Topic

Education
School Climate and Safety

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