50+ Homeschooling Statistics 2021

Report Highlights

3% to 4% of the school-going population in the US is homeschooled, according to the most recent federal data.
51% of the homeschooled students are female, while 49% are male.
White students make up for the bulk of homeschooled students representing 68%. Hispanics are second with a 15% representation. Black students account for 8% of the homeschooled population, whereas Asians make up 4%.
As of February 2020, a total of at least 9 million Americans had gone through homeschooling at least once.
Until 2019, the number of homeschooled students had been growing by between 2% to 8% each year.
From 2019 to the fall of 2020, the percentage of homeschooled students changed from 3.4% to 9%.

General Homeschooling Statistics around the World

Many countries around the world allow for homeschooling, including the United States. Others include Indonesia, China, Japan, Botswana, South Africa, Australia, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, Brazil, and Canada.

Homeschooling is the practice of educating a child at home without enrolling him/her into a formal school.

Students are said to be homeschooled if they are being educated at home rather than at school for some part of their learning or when their part-time school attendance is less than 25 hours per week.

67% of the homeschooled students successfully graduate from college.
The COVID-19 Pandemic saw over 300 million students all over the world become homeschooled.
25% of the homeschooled students have enrolled a grade above their recommended grade as per age level.
Homeschooled students score between 80% and 90% regardless of their parent’s level of education.
Boys score 44% more in reading tests when educated at home compared to when educated in public schools.
98% of the home-educated students engage in an average of 5 activities outside their homes.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Home Schooling in the US

The COVID-19 Pandemic severely disrupted educational activities all around the world, including the US.

41% of parents showed a willingness to allow their children to take part in homeschooling as of May 2020.
An IPSOS survey conducted in May 2020 showed that 59% of the parents were ready to consider homeschooling, with 30% strongly considering it.
Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, 28% fewer parents preferred homeschooling.
43% more parents became inclined towards homeschooling following the onset of the pandemic.
53% of the black parents believe that the pandemic positively changed their minds towards homeschooling in 2020.
As of February 2020, 26% of the parents who had not tried homeschooling before had considered having full-time homeschooling. During the same time, 33% were considering doing it partially.
Only 68% of the parents who had homeschooled before February 2020 found it satisfactory.
83% of the parents who had not homeschooled before February 2020 found it satisfactory.
69% of the homeschooled students before the pandemic showed a willingness to continue with the same for the following academic year.
Among the parents who did not homeschool their children in February 2020, 15% were very likely to fully home school in their children’s next academic year.
54% of the parents who were homeschooling before February 2020 were likely to continue on a full-time basis in their children’s next academic year.

Costs incurred in homeschooling in the US

On average, homeschooling one child costs the parent(s) between $700 and $1,800.
Each year the parent(s) spends an average of $350-$750.
For materials, the yearly expense ranges between $150 and $300.
Field trips cost between $100 and $250 annually.
For extracurricular activities, the parent(s) yearly spend ranges between $100 and $500.
Homeschooling saves the federal government about $24 billion of taxpayer money.

Homeschooling expenses are not eligible for federal tax breaks. However, some states offer tax breaks for homeschooling families.

In Illinois, the parents or guardians of a homeschooled student aged 21 or below are eligible for an education expense credit for amounts exceeding $250.
Louisiana allows parents to be eligible for up to 50% tax off for homeschooling expenses not more than $5,000.
In Indiana, a homeschooled child could get up to $1,000 off in the taxes to be paid.

Also read about the Benefits of Distance Learning and Scholarship Statistics.

The number of hours homeschooled students learn each week in the US

Homeschooling gives the parent(s) the power to determine the number of hours their child will learn each week.

72% of the homeschooled student learned for 5 hours each week.
The percentage of students who learned for a weekly 4 hours was 12%.
4% of the students learned for 6 hours and 3% for 7 hours in a week.
Another 4% of the students learned for just 3 hours a week, while 2% were taught for only 2 hours per week.
The number of students who learned for between 25 to 40 hours a week was 50%.
28% of the homeschooled students took 11 to 24 hours, while 21% 1 to 10 hours of weekly learning.

Here are the best homeschool apps.

Reasons Why Parents Choose to Homeschool their Children

A survey was conducted in 2020 which revealed the following:

50% of the homeschooling parents said a safe environment was their primary reason for deciding to homeschool.
35% of the parents mentioned the need for individual attention as a reason for homeschooling.
26% of the parents cited morality, another 25% cited discipline, 24% named the need for proximity as the reason, 18% claimed academic reputation, 15% cited a religious environment, and 16% said the size of classes was the rationale behind homeschooling.
14% of the parents cited test scores, extracurricular activities, socialization as the reasons for homeschooling.
12% of the parents were of the opinion that their decision to homeschool was a result of diversity, whereas 9% named school sizes as the reason.

Read more about the average IQ in the U.S.

Top reasons for parents who had considered homeschooling before the COVID-19 pandemic

Results from the EdChoice survey in 2020 indicated:

42% of the parents wanted their children to have more freedom in exploring their interests.
38% of the parents required their children to have individualized attention.
37% of the parents had safety concerns about schools.
30% of the parents were worried about bullying in schools.

25% of the parents felt that schools did not meet the needs of the children.

Another 25% of the parents wanted to mold their children as per their own practices and beliefs.

Reasons Why Parents Chose not to Homeschool

46% of the parents did not want to disrupt the children’s friendship relationships from school.
42% of the parents felt the child would not be well socially prepared for the outside world if he/she was being homeschooled.
42% of the parents did not see the need to disrupt the children’s progress at school.
37% of the parents agreed that it would be difficult to coordinate between work and homeschooling.
Another 37% of the parents just felt they were simply not up to it, while 35% thought it would challenge them to manage their time properly.

Parental Reasons for not Homeschooling by Race

A 2020 EdChoice survey found out the following:

44% of black parents, 45% of Hispanic parents, and 47% of white parents cited the need not to disrupt the children’s relationships with their friends.
39% of black parents, 40% of Hispanic parents, and 43% of white parents revealed that homeschooling would disrupt the children’s current schooling.
39% of black parents, 46% of Hispanic parents, and 35% of white parents said it would be hard to coordinate work schedules.
35% of black parents, 41% of Hispanic parents, and 43% of white parents felt homeschooling would interfere with their children’s social development.
40% of black parents, 39% of Hispanic parents, and 34% of white parents attributed their disapproval of homeschooling to time management.
30% of black parents, 12% of Hispanic parents, and 21% of white parents lacked financial support to get academic resources.

Academic Performance of Homeschooled Students

Homeschooled students perform much better than their counterparts in formal institutional schooling.

Peer-reviewed studies indicate that 69% of homeschooled students succeed in college and adulthood.
Homeschooled students tend to perform above average on their ACTs and SATs.
In these standard achievement tests, the homeschooled students average between 15% and 30% more points than the students attending public schools, notwithstanding the parents’ income and education.
Homeschooled students average 72 points more than the nationwide mean performance in SATs.
The average performance of homeschoolers is 22.8 out of 36 points compared to the national average of 21.
Homeschoolers have an average graduation rate of 67% compared to the 57.5% graduation rate for students from public schools.