The modern homeschool movement in America continues to grow, currently at a rate of 8% a year (Ray, 2004; Rudger, 1999; Spiegler, 2003). In America, as of 2009, roughly 2.9% of school-aged children (5-17) were homeschooled (NCES, 2009).  Indeed, the success of America’s nearly 2 million homeschoolers have inspired others in numerous developed societies; current estimates include 15 developed countries and an additional 2 million students (Ray, 2011).

Not only is homeschooling growing internationally and in the United States, but also in North Carolina.

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

NC: 86,753+ Homeschools, 216,882+ Students

In January 1988, there were about 1046 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 19%.

NC_HS_SummaryScreen  In July, 2018, the NC Division of Non-Public Education (DNPE) published the NC homeschool statistics for the 2017-2018 school year. The number of state recognized homeschools grew by about 7.1% to 86,753 (from 80,973 the year before). The number of students is an estimate. DNPE estimates that there are about 1.6 students per homeschool for a total of 135,749 students. NCHE believes that a more realistic estimate is 2.5 students per homeschool for a total student population of 216,882. This represents 13% of the total North Carolina K-12 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 2017-2018 school year.