Homeschool Statistics

New NC Homeschool Numbers

In July 2024, the NC Division of Non-Public Education (DNPE) published the NC homeschool statistics for the 2023-2024 school year. The number of state recognized homeschools increased for the first time in 3 years. The increase this year over last year was about 2.5% to 96,529 homeschools. While there is not an exact count of the number of students, DNPE estimates that there are about 1.6 students per homeschool for a total of 157,642 students. NCHE believes that a more realistic estimate is 2 students per homeschool for a total student population of 193,000 students. This represents about 12% of the total North Carolina student population. Since most homeschools with only students below the age of 7 do not officially open a school (because the law does not require it), there are actually more homeschools than this number represents. Here is a link to the North Carolina Division of Non-Public Education homeschool data for the 2023-2024 school year.

A post written by Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. states that “More empirical evidence shows that homeschooling doubled in the United States during the government pandemic lockdowns. The growth occurred from the 2019-2020 institutional school year to the 2020-2021 year, to perhaps as many as 5 million school-age children. The latest data come from the United States Census Bureau.”

Ray (2021b) estimated that there were 4.0 to 5.0 million homeschool students in grades K-12 in the United States (or 7% to 9% of school-age children) in January of 2021. The rate of growth in North Carolina didn’t double, but NCHE estimates that homeschool students represent about 13% of the total NC K-12 student population. That’s about double the national average.

Historical Growth in NC Homeschooling

In January 1988, there were about 1,046 homeschools in North Carolina. When NCHE convinced the NC General Assembly to pass a favorable homeschool law that was ratified on June 20, 1988, the number of homeschools began to grow rapidly. By the end of the 1988-89 school year the NC homeschool community had experienced a phenomenal 32% increase in numbers to 1,385 homeschools. Since then, the number of homeschools in North Carolina has grown at an annual compound growth rate of more that 29%.

In 2011, NCHE commissioned the following research:
A Summary of Homeschooling Across North Carolina: Academic Achievement and Demographic Characteristics
Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. March 11, 2011