TL;DR
- “Every kid is eligible” is close to true for who counts as a student. But a scholarship can only pay for expenses tied to a “school,” and the law lets each state decide what a “school” is. Treasury’s October 2026 proposed rules keep that state-law definition.
- Across all 51 places, by our reading: 15 can use it, 24 can’t, including DC, and 12 are unclear.
- In 29 states the answer depends on one box on a form: the same child qualifies or not depending on how the family registers.
- Treasury put this in writing in its June 10, 2026 preview, and its October 1, 2026 proposed rules adopt the same state-law test. The final word on homeschools waits on separate §530 guidance Treasury has not yet issued.
- A participating state cannot impose its own homeschool ban on SGOs: binding temporary rules bar states from limiting the type of school scholarship recipients attend.
Congress passed the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit in 2025. Starting in 2027, donors can fund scholarships for K-12 students, and “every child is eligible” became the slogan of the school-choice movement. For homeschoolers in about half the country, that slogan is misleading. The reason is one sentence buried in the law.
Two tests, not one
The law asks two separate questions, and homeschoolers fall into the gap between them.
First: who is an eligible student? Almost any K-12 child whose household income is at or below 300% of the local area median gross income and who is eligible to enroll in a public school. Homeschoolers pass easily. The preamble to Treasury’s proposed rules adds that the student does not have to be enrolled in or attending a school when the family applies or the scholarship is awarded.
Second: what can the scholarship pay for? Only a “qualified expense.” The law defines that by pointing to an older rule (IRC §530), which ties every kind of expense to the student’s enrollment or attendance at a “public, private, or religious school.” And it says “school” means whatever your state says it means. Treasury’s October 2026 proposed rules read it the same way; their preamble says each of the three §530 expense categories “depends on the student’s enrollment or attendance at, or otherwise being in, a school.” So a homeschooled child can be fully eligible and still have nothing the scholarship is allowed to pay for, if their state does not call the home a “school.”
Treasury said so in writing
This is not just our reading. On June 10, 2026, Treasury released a “Preview of Forthcoming Section 25F Guidance” that says it directly:
At Treasury’s June 9 roundtable that week, Deputy Assistant Secretary Kevin Salinger walked through the same logic out loud.
On October 1, 2026, Treasury and the IRS released the proposed regulations themselves. They do not repeat the preview’s home-school sentence or otherwise address homeschooling. They do adopt the test under it. Proposed § 1.25F-1(a)(17) says “school” has “the definition set forth in section 530(b)(3)(B) and any guidance issued thereunder,” meaning a K-12 school “as determined under State law,” and the proposal uses that one definition both for qualified expenses and for the rule that an SGO fund 10 or more students who do not all attend the same school. The preamble spells out the consequence: an expense qualifies only if it meets §530(b)(3)(A), “including the applicable connection to a school described in section 530(b)(3)(B).”
So under the proposed rules, which donors, SGOs, and states may rely on for 2027 contributions, homeschool access still turns on how each state classifies home education. The open piece is the guidance that “any guidance issued thereunder” points to: separate §530 guidance that Treasury says will clarify “the meaning of qualified expenses and schools” and calls a high priority. It has not been issued.
The map
We read the home-education law in all 50 states and DC against that test. Green states treat the home as a school, so the scholarship likely works. Red states route homeschoolers through a separate “home instruction” category that is not a school, so the scholarship likely can’t be spent. Amber states are genuinely unclear. Tap any state to see the statute that decides it.
It does not line up with the usual homeschool map. The homeschool world sorts states by how much paperwork they require. That is the wrong question here. What matters is whether your state calls the home a “school” at all. By that test, 15 states can likely use the scholarship, 24 including DC likely can’t, and 12 are a coin toss.
The catch: one box on a form
The most important finding is hiding inside that map. In 29 states the answer is not fixed. Many states let a family homeschool in two different ways. One option is to register the home as a private school. The other is to file under a standalone “home instruction” law.
Pick the first box and the child likely qualifies. Pick the second and they likely don’t. Same child, same kitchen table, different paragraph of state law. Most families have no idea that this choice now carries a federal-scholarship consequence, and neither Treasury’s June preview nor its October 2026 proposed regulations say which one controls. Meanwhile some Scholarship Granting Organizations are already telling homeschoolers there is “no homeschool exclusion,” a promise that holds only where state law treats the home, or the program the child attends, as a school. Neither Treasury’s June preview nor its October 2026 proposed regulations support it as a blanket promise.
What the October rules add
The proposed and temporary regulations Treasury released October 1, 2026 never address homeschooling directly, but they answer several questions a homeschool family will ask next.
- A state cannot add its own homeschool ban. Under the temporary regulations (T.D. 10057), which take effect without a comment period and apply from September 1, 2026, a participating state “may not require SGOs to operate in a manner that is more restrictive than the requirements set forth in section 25F(c)(5), such as by limiting the type of school that scholarship recipients may attend.” State law still decides whether a home is a school; a state just cannot layer an SGO rule on top of the federal test. See our story on the one national standard.
- An SGO can choose not to fund homeschoolers. Treasury says any particular SGO “may narrow its own focus and adopt more stringent requirements than those applicable under section 25F.” One SGO may fund homeschool expenses where they qualify; another may not.
- Paying a home school is untested. Under the proposed rules, tuition and fees “charged by the school must be paid directly to the school,” a vendor paid directly must be verified and “not related, directly or indirectly, to the scholarship recipient,” and money may go to the family only as a reimbursement backed by a receipt. The proposal does not say how the pay-the-school rule works when the school is the family’s own home. The routes it does spell out run through outside providers, such as curriculum sellers, tutors, and co-ops, paid directly or through a qualified digital wallet, or through receipted reimbursements.
What would fix it
There are two ways out, and neither is automatic. A state could amend its law to call the home a “school,” the way 15 states already effectively do. That is a state legislature’s job, not Washington’s. Or Treasury’s separate §530 guidance, which it says will clarify “the meaning of qualified expenses and schools,” could read “school” more broadly, or spell out that a homeschooler also enrolled part-time in a co-op or microschool that is a private school has qualifying expenses anyway. Treasury calls that guidance a high priority but has set no date. The proposed §25F rules themselves are open for public comment until December 1, 2026, and the final rules could differ from the proposal.
How sure is this?
Every verdict on the map is a best-reading prediction, not settled law. We compared the plain text of each state’s statute against the federal test as Treasury’s June 2026 preview described it. The proposed regulations released October 1, 2026 adopt that same test (“school” as determined under State law), so the classifications stand. Where a state’s law is genuinely ambiguous, we marked it unclear rather than forcing a call. The final answer in the unclear and pathway-dependent states will turn on Treasury’s forthcoming §530 guidance on qualified expenses and schools, and on the final regulations.
Sources: the statutory chain was checked word for word against IRC §25F and §530(b)(3), Treasury’s Preview of Forthcoming Section 25F Guidance (June 10, 2026), the proposed regulations (REG-117199-25, October 1, 2026), and CRS Report R48724. Each state’s classification rests on the controlling statute cited in its row, cross-checked against HSLDA’s per-state legal pages and U.S. Department of Education state-regulation pages.
Full detail: all 50 states + DC
The same data as the map, if you want to read every state at once. The ¹ marks a pathway-dependent state, where a different legal option may change the answer (see “Why”).
| State | Verdict | Why | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Can use it ¹ | Alabama has no separate non-school "home education" statute; the two dominant homeschool routes (church school and private school) both expressly include in-home "home programs" and are "schools" under Ala. Code 16-28-1/-3, so the home is a recognized school satisfying 530(b)(3)(B) - though the private-tutor route is an attendance alternative rather than a school and would not independently qualify. | Ala. Code 16-28-1, 16-28-3, 16-28-5, 16-28-7, 16-28-8, 16-28-16 |
| Alaska | Unclear ¹ | Alaska's dominant homeschool route (AS 14.30.010(b)(12)) is a standalone parental home-education exemption in which the parent is NOT a 'school' under state law, ed.gov's state-regulation page explicitly distinguishes this lighter-touch parent path from formal '(b)(1)' religious/private schools, so a child schooled under (b)(12) likely has no §530(b)(3)(A) qualifying expense, BUT a family may instead elect to operate the home AS an exempt 'religious or other private school' under (b)(1), which IS a school under state law and would qualify; the answer therefore turns on which pathway the family chooses. | AS 14.30.010(b) (home-education exemption at (b)(12) |
| Arizona | Can use it | Arizona is one of the rare states whose statute defines the home school itself AS a school, ARS 15-802(G)(2) defines "homeschool" as "a nonpublic school conducted primarily by the parent, guardian or other person who has custody of the child," so under State law the home is treated as a school, satisfying the §530(b)(3)(B) "school ... as determined under State law" test even though that home school is expressly not a "private school" (which the statute defines as a nonpublic institution "other than the child's home"). | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 15-802(G)(2) (definition of "homeschool" as "a nonpublic school") |
| Arkansas | Unclear ¹ | A family using Arkansas's dedicated Home School Act route likely has no qualifying §530(b)(3)(A) expense because §6-18-201 enumerates "home school" as a fourth category SEPARATE from "public, private, [or] parochial school" and the home school gets its own definition/subchapter (the "treated as a private school" language is only a narrow IDEA special-ed provision, not a general status), whereas a family that instead operates as a private school/microschool likely qualifies, making the outcome squarely pathway-dependent. | Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-15-501 to 6-15-510 (Home Schools subchapter) |
| California | Can use it ¹ | California has no separate non-school "home education" statute - the standard way to home-educate is to operate the home AS a private school via the Private School Affidavit (Educ. Code 48222) or enroll in a private-school satellite program, both of which make the child a private-school student qualifying under 530(b)(3)(A), so a family on either school-based pathway has a qualifying expense; only the credentialed-private-tutor route (48224) is a non-school exemption that likely does not qualify. | Cal. Educ. Code 48222 (private school affidavit) & 48224 (private tutor) |
| Colorado | Unclear ¹ | Colorado's default home-based education statute (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(2)(a)) expressly declares the home program "is not intended to be and does not qualify as a private and nonprofit school," so that pathway yields no §530 qualifying expense, but the same family may instead enroll in an independent/parochial (umbrella) school under a separate C.R.S. 22-33-104(2)(b) exemption, a recognized private school, making qualification turn entirely on which pathway is elected. | C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(2)(a) (home-based education, "does not qualify as a private and nonprofit school") |
| Connecticut | Can’t use it ¹ | Connecticut homeschools operate under the Sec. 10-184 'equivalent instruction' exemption from compulsory attendance, which the U.S. Dept. of Education and CT practice confirm is a parental-duty provision that does NOT designate the home as a public, private, or religious 'school' under state law, leaving a child taught at home with no qualifying 530(b)(3) expense; only a family that instead forms or enrolls in a registered nonpublic school under Sec. 10-188 (a genuine 'school') would qualify. | Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 10-184 (equivalent-instruction exemption) and Sec. 10-188 (nonpublic/private schools) |
| Delaware | Can use it | Delaware does not place home education in a separate non-school category, 14 Del. C. § 2703A expressly states that "for purposes of this chapter, a 'homeschool' is considered a nonpublic school," and homeschools report through the state's nonpublic school enrollment/attendance system, so the home school IS a "school" as determined under State law for the §530(b)(3)(B) test, and all three homeschool sub-types fall under the same nonpublic-school definition. | 14 Del. C. § 2703A ("Homeschools defined") |
| District of Columbia | Can’t use it | DC Code § 38-202 lists 'private instruction' as a compulsory-attendance option SEPARATE from 'public, independent, private, or parochial school,' and home schooling is regulated under its own dedicated chapter (DCMR Title 5-E Ch. 52, 'Homeschooling') rather than the private-school approval chapter, so the home school is not treated as a 'school' under DC law and lacks a qualifying § 530(b)(3) expense. | D.C. Official Code § 38-202 |
| Florida | Unclear ¹ | Florida's home education program (§ 1002.41) is statutorily EXCLUDED from the definition of 'private school' (§ 1002.01: "This definition does not include home education programs conducted in accordance with s. 1002.41"), so a family using only that route is not a 'school' under State law and likely has no qualifying § 530(b)(3) expense; however, Florida also lets families educate at home by operating under or enrolling in a registered private/umbrella/'600'/microschool (§ 1002.42), which IS a school under State law and whose students Florida classifies as private-school (not home-education) students, so the answer turns on which pathway the family chooses. | Fla. Stat. §§ 1002.01, 1002.41, 1002.42, 1002.43 |
| Georgia | Can’t use it ¹ | O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(a) expressly recognizes "public schools, private schools, and home study programs" as three separate educational entities and regulates the home as a non-school "home study program" under subsection (c), so under the §530(b)(3)(B) "school as determined under State law" test a typical Georgia home study program has no qualifying expense, while a family that instead organizes as a bona fide private school under subsection (b) would qualify. | O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(a)-(c) |
| Hawaii | Can’t use it ¹ | Hawaii statutorily treats a home school not as a "school" but as an enumerated exception to attending "a public or private school", HRS 302A-1132(a)(5) lists "notification of intent to home school" alongside the alternative-program exception, and home education is regulated under HAR Chapter 8-12 ("Compulsory Attendance Exceptions") wholly apart from the private-school track, so a standard home-schooler has no §530(b)(3)(A) "school," though a family enrolling in a recognized private/satellite school would qualify. | HRS §302A-1132(a)(5) |
| Idaho | Can’t use it ¹ | Idaho Code 33-202 lists "privately instructed by, or at the direction of, his parent or guardian" as a compulsory-attendance alternative grammatically separate from "enrolled in ... private or parochial school," and no Idaho statute denominates the home a "school" (homeschooling is a bare compulsory-attendance exemption with no notice or recognition), so the home-instruction pathway likely has no §530 qualifying expense, while a microschool/hybrid operating under the distinct private/parochial-school prong would qualify. | Idaho Code § 33-202 |
| Illinois | Can use it | Illinois has no separate home-education statute; under People v. Levisen (1950) and 105 ILCS 5/26-1 a home school is legally a private school, so it satisfies §530(b)(3)(B)'s "school...as determined under State law" test. | 105 ILCS 5/26-1 |
| Indiana | Can use it | Indiana has no separate "home education/home instruction" statute, a home school is legally a "nonpublic, non-accredited school" (a private school) under IC 20-33-2-12 and the compulsory attendance statutes, so the home is itself a "school" under State law and a §25F scholarship expense tied to enrollment/attendance at that school should qualify. | IC 20-33-2-28 and IC 20-33-2-12 (home schools as nonpublic, non-accredited schools) |
| Iowa | Can’t use it | Every home-based pathway in Iowa runs through Iowa Code Chapter 299A 'Private Instruction,' a separate non-school category, the statute expressly states independent private instruction 'is not a nonpublic school' and is 'exempt from all state statutes and administrative rules applicable to a school, a school board, or a school district,' so a home school is not treated as a 'school' under Iowa law for the §530(b)(3)(B) test. | Iowa Code ch. 299A ("Private Instruction"), §§ 299A.1-299A.3 |
| Kansas | Can use it | Kansas has no separate home-education statute; a home school is legally organized and registered AS a non-accredited private school under the same private-school provisions, so the home is itself treated as a "school" under State law for the §530(b)(3)(B) test. | K.S.A. 72-53,100 to 72-53,102 (non-accredited private school registration) |
| Kentucky | Can use it | Kentucky has no separate "home education/home instruction" statute, under KRS 159.030 a home school is established and regulated AS a private/nonpublic school under state law, so it satisfies the §530(b)(3)(B) "school as determined under State law" test that §25F requires. | KRS 159.030 (Kentucky compulsory-attendance / private-school provision) |
| Louisiana | Unclear ¹ | The answer turns on the elected pathway: registering the home as a 'nonpublic school not seeking state approval' makes it a 'school' under R.S. 17:236's definition (institution with physical plant, instructional staff, and students) and LIKELY QUALIFIES, whereas the R.S. 17:236.1 'approved home study program' is a statutorily distinct 'program' that Louisiana DOE expressly treats as separate from a nonpublic school and that relies on a 'shall be considered in attendance at a day school' deeming fiction rather than being a school itself, so it LIKELY DOES NOT QUALIFY. | La. R.S. 17:236 (definition of a school) & 17:236.4 / 17:221 (nonpublic schools / compulsory attendance) |
| Maine | Unclear ¹ | Maine lists "home instruction" (§5001-A(3)(A)(4)) as a separate non-school alternative that LIKELY DOES NOT QUALIFY, while a family operating as a "recognized equivalent-instruction private school" (§5001-A(3)(A)(1)(b)) IS a school and LIKELY QUALIFIES, but that route requires at least two unrelated students, so a solo home school must become a microschool/pod to qualify. | 20-A M.R.S. §5001-A(3)(A)(1) (equivalent instruction private school) and §5001-A(3)(A)(4) (home instruction) |
| Maryland | Can’t use it ¹ | Maryland statute and regulation treat "home instruction" as a separate compulsory-attendance exemption rather than a school, the U.S. Dept. of Education's Maryland summary confirms "a home-based private educational program is not a private school under State law," and even the umbrella option is a supervision relationship (the child is supervised by, not enrolled in, the nonpublic/church entity), so a home-instructed child likely has no §530(b)(3)(A) enrollment-at-a-school expense. | Md. Educ. Code Ann. §7-301 |
| Massachusetts | Can’t use it ¹ | Massachusetts authorizes the standard home school as a child being "otherwise instructed" under a compulsory-attendance exemption that is grammatically and legally distinct from the statute's separate "day school approved by the school committee" clause, so the home is not treated as a private/recognized school (Care and Protection of Charles borrows only the private-school approval standard, not the school classification), leaving a typical MA homeschooler without a qualifying sec. 530(b)(3)(A) school expense unless the family instead enrolls in or operates a separately approved private day school. | M.G.L. ch. 76, sec. 1 |
| Michigan | Unclear ¹ | Michigan offers two distinct compulsory-attendance exemptions and the §530 'school' test splits between them: the U.S. Dept. of Education and MDE confirm a home school under the standalone (3)(f) home-education exemption is 'not automatically recognized as a nonpublic school' (a separate non-school category, LIKELY DOES NOT QUALIFY), whereas a home school that instead elects to operate as a state-approved nonpublic school under (3)(a)/1921 PA 302 is treated as a school under state law (LIKELY QUALIFIES). | MCL 380.1561(3)(a) and (3)(f) (Michigan Revised School Code) |
| Minnesota | Can use it | Minnesota's controlling statute, Minn. Stat. § 120A.22 subd. 4, expressly defines a "school" to include "home school" ("a 'school' means a public school... or a nonpublic school, church or religious organization, or home school in which a child is provided instruction"), so under the §530(b)(3)(B)/§25F test the home school is treated as a school as determined under State law rather than under a separate non-school home-instruction category. | Minn. Stat. § 120A.22 (subd. 4 defines "school" to include "home school") |
| Mississippi | Can use it | Mississippi's sole homeschool pathway is the "home instruction program," which Miss. Code Ann. § 37-13-91(2)(i) folds directly into the statutory definition of "nonpublic school", expressly defining that school category to include "a home" and "home instruction programs" alongside private, church, and parochial schools, so a Mississippi home school is treated AS a school under State law, satisfying the §530(b)(3)(B)/§25F test. | Miss. Code Ann. § 37-13-91(2)(i) |
| Missouri | Can use it | Missouri does not regulate home education under a separate non-school "home instruction" statute; instead RSMo 167.012 expressly defines a "home school" as "a school, whether incorporated or unincorporated," and RSMo 167.031 lists "home school" alongside public, private, parochial, and parish schools as a school in which a child may be enrolled to satisfy compulsory attendance, so a Missouri home school is treated AS a school under state law for the §530(b)(3)(B)/§25F test. | RSMo 167.012 (defines "home school" as "a school") |
| Montana | Can use it | Montana does not place home education in a separate non-school 'home instruction' statute; it expressly calls it a 'home school,' regulates it in the same compulsory-attendance exemption statute (20-5-109, titled 'Nonpublic and Home School Requirements') alongside private/nonpublic schools, and treats the child as 'enrolled in' and in 'attendance at the school,' so the home school is treated as a school under State law for the §530(b)(3)(B) test. | MCA 20-5-102, 20-5-109, 20-5-111 |
| Nebraska | Can use it | Nebraska has no separate non-school "home education" statute, home schooling is conducted as an "exempt school" under Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-1601, the statute governing "private, denominational, or parochial schools," and the Nebraska Department of Education expressly classifies home schools as "non-approved and non-accredited private schools," so the home school is treated as a school (specifically a private school) under State law and satisfies the IRC 530(b)(3)(B) test. | Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-1601 (exempt schools within the private/denominational/parochial school statute) |
| Nevada | Can’t use it ¹ | NRS 392.070 excuses compulsory attendance through two distinct alternatives, private-school enrollment under Chapter 394 OR homeschooling via NRS 388D.020, so the home school in Chapter 388D ('Alternative School Choices') is a separate, parent-responsibility, non-school category rather than a 'school' under State law, leaving a homeschooled child without a qualifying §530(b)(3)(A) expense unless the family instead licenses as a private school under Chapter 394. | NRS 388D.020 (Chapter 388D, "Alternative School Choices") |
| New Hampshire | Can’t use it | New Hampshire regulates home education under a separate standalone chapter (RSA 193-A) that defines it as parent-provided "instruction" and never calls the home a "school," and RSA 193:1 lists home education as a compulsory-attendance EXEMPTION distinct from attending a public or private school, so a home-educated child is not "enrolled in or attending" a "school" as §530(b)(3)(A)/§25F require. | N.H. RSA 193-A:4 (Home Education |
| New Jersey | Can’t use it ¹ | New Jersey's compulsory-attendance statute (N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25) authorizes home education only as "equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school," a phrase that by its own terms defines the home school as something OTHER than a school, and NJDOE/State v. Massa treat it as parental home instruction distinct from a registered nonpublic (private) school, so a home school is not a "school" under state law for the §530(b)(3)(B) test; the answer flips only if the family instead forms or enrolls in an actual nonpublic school. | N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25 |
| New Mexico | Can’t use it | New Mexico regulates home education under a standalone statute (NMSA 1978 §22-1-2.1) that defines a "home school" as a parent-operated "home study program of instruction" and places it in its own category expressly excluded from the state's "private school" definition, so the home is not treated as a recognized public, private, or religious "school" for the §25F/§530(b)(3)(B) test, even though the statutory label contains the word "school." | NMSA 1978 §22-1-2.1 (home school definition |
| New York | Can’t use it | New York regulates home education exclusively under 8 NYCRR Section 100.10 ("Home instruction"), a separate non-school category that Education Law Section 3204(2) and NYSED explicitly distinguish from "a nonpublic school", home instruction is not a private, religious, or recognized school, homeschoolers earn no diploma and are deemed nonpublic students only narrowly "solely for the purpose of receiving special education services," so a Section 100.10 home school has no qualifying Section 530(b)(3)(A) expense. | 8 NYCRR Section 100.10 (Regulations of the Commissioner of Education) |
| North Carolina | Can use it | North Carolina statute does not use a separate non-school "home education" category, N.C.G.S. § 115C-563(a) defines a "home school" expressly as "a nonpublic school," placing it inside Article 39 ("Nonpublic Schools") alongside private and church schools and requiring it to operate under Part 1 or Part 2 qualifications, so the home school is treated AS a school under State law for the §25F/§530(b)(3)(B) test. | N.C.G.S. §§ 115C-563 to 115C-566 (Chapter 115C, Article 39 "Nonpublic Schools," Part 3 "Home Schools") |
| North Dakota | Can’t use it | North Dakota regulates home-based education under a separate Chapter 15.1-23 "Home Education" that statutorily defines it as "a program of education supervised by a child's parent", expressly a program, not a school, and even the certified-teacher "private school option" remains a home education program under that same chapter rather than a chartered nonpublic school under the distinct Chapter 15.1-06, so the home is not "treated as a school under State law" for the §530(b)(3)(B) test. | N.D. Cent. Code ch. 15.1-23 (esp. §15.1-23-01 definition |
| Ohio | Unclear ¹ | Ohio law offers two pathways with opposite §530(b)(3) outcomes: the default ORC 3321.042 "home education" route defines home education as parent-directed instruction that is merely "exempt" from compulsory attendance and is NOT a school (LIKELY DOES NOT QUALIFY), whereas a family may instead organize its home as a nonchartered nonpublic (NCNP) school - a recognized private school under Ohio law and available to single families - which IS a school under State law (LIKELY QUALIFIES), so the answer turns on which pathway the family elects. | ORC 3321.042 (home education) |
| Oklahoma | Can’t use it ¹ | Oklahoma's compulsory-attendance statute (70 O.S. § 10-105(A)) and Okla. Const. Art. XIII § 4 enumerate 'public, private or other school' and then SEPARATELY allow 'unless other means of education are provided,' placing home education in a distinct non-school category (the US Dept. of Education confirms homeschooling is treated as a separate, essentially unregulated 'other means of education' pathway, NOT a private school), so a home school is not a 'school' under state law and the typical homeschooler lacks a qualifying §530(b)(3)(A) expense, whereas a family that enrolls in a private school or a microschool/hybrid operated as a private school would qualify. | 70 O.S. § 10-105(A) |
| Oregon | Can’t use it | Oregon regulates home-based education under a separate, non-school 'home instruction' statute (ORS 339.030(1)(e) and ORS 339.035) that is expressly distinct from private/church schools and prohibits home schools from operating as, or enrolling under, a private/umbrella school, so a home-taught child is not 'enrolled or attending a school' as required by §530(b)(3). | ORS 339.030(1)(e) and ORS 339.035 |
| Pennsylvania | Unclear ¹ | Pennsylvania's standalone home education program (§13-1327.1) and private tutor option are separate non-school categories merely deemed compliant with compulsory attendance (likely no qualifying §530(b)(3)(A) attendance-at-a-school expense), but the same families can instead operate as a satellite/extension of a religious or accredited private 'day school' under §13-1327, where the child is enrolled in and attends a private school and would qualify, so the answer turns on which pathway the family elects. | 24 P.S. §§13-1327 & 13-1327.1 |
| Rhode Island | Can’t use it | Rhode Island regulates home education only as "at-home instruction" approved by the local school committee under § 16-19-1(a)/§ 16-19-2, a separate non-school category that the state explicitly does not treat as a private school (the state does not apply private-school approval standards to homeschools, so a homeschool is not a "school" under RI law for the §530(b)(3)(B) test). | R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-19-1(a) & § 16-19-2 |
| South Carolina | Can’t use it | All three South Carolina pathways live in Title 59, Chapter 65 ("Attendance of Pupils") and treat the home as a "home schooling program" / "home school", a separate non-school category that satisfies compulsory attendance (59-65-10) as a distinct alternative to a "public or private... or church-related school," so the home is not itself a "school as determined under State law" under the §530(b)(3)(B) test regardless of which option (district, SCAIHS, or 50-family association) the family chooses. | S.C. Code Ann. §§ 59-65-40, 59-65-45, 59-65-47 (Chapter 65 "Attendance of Pupils") |
| South Dakota | Can’t use it ¹ | SDCL 13-27-1 lists three mutually exclusive compulsory-attendance options, "school, either public, nonpublic, or alternative instruction as set forth in § 13-27-3", grammatically severing home-based "alternative instruction" from "school," and the SD Dept. of Education itself labels homeschool "alternative instruction" (a notification-based exemption, not a school), so the standard route likely yields no qualifying §530(b)(3) expense, while a family operating/enrolling under the separate "nonpublic school" category is a school and would likely qualify. | SDCL 13-27-1 and SDCL 13-27-3 (enacted by 2021 SB 177) |
| Tennessee | Unclear ¹ | Tennessee regulates the independent home school under a separate home-education statute (TCA § 49-6-3050) outside its Category I-VI non-public/private-school framework, so despite the statute's use of the word "school," that pathway is a separate home-instruction category unlikely to satisfy §530(b)(3)(B), whereas the Category IV church-related-umbrella and Category III accredited-online pathways enroll the child in a recognized private school and clearly qualify. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-3050 (home schools) |
| Texas | Can use it | Texas has no separate home-education statute; the Texas Supreme Court in Leeper v. Arlington ISD (1994) held that a home school IS a private school under state law, so the home school is treated as a "school" and a homeschooler has a qualifying §530(b)(3)(A) enrollment/attendance expense. | Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 25.086 (compulsory-attendance private-school exemption) |
| Utah | Can’t use it ¹ | Utah's home-school route (53G-6-204) is a compulsory-attendance exemption that statutorily separates "home school" from "private school" and leaves it unregulated as a school, so a pure home-schooler is not enrolled in a "school under State law", but a family that instead operates as/enrolls in a private school, or registers a microschool as a full-time private school, would qualify, making the answer pathway-dependent. | Utah Code 53G-6-204 ("School-age children exempt from school attendance") |
| Vermont | Can’t use it ¹ | Vermont regulates home education as a "home study program" defined as an educational "program" (16 V.S.A. § 11(21)) and expressly excluded from the definition of "recognized independent school" (§ 11(19), "an independent school ... that is not a home study program"), with § 166 listing home study programs separately from schools, so the home school is not treated as a "school" under state law and lacks a §530(b)(3)(A) qualifying expense, unless the family instead operates or enrolls in an actual approved/recognized independent school under § 166, which Vermont does treat as a school. | 16 V.S.A. § 166b (home study program) and 16 V.S.A. § 11(8),(19),(21) and § 166 (approved/recognized independent schools) |
| Virginia | Can’t use it ¹ | Virginia's compulsory-attendance statute expressly commands that home instruction by a parent "shall not be classified or defined as a private, denominational or parochial school," so a home school is statutorily barred from being a "school" under the 530(b)(3)(B) test, and the separate home-instruction (22.1-254.1), religious-exemption, and tutor pathways are all non-school categories; a qualifying "school" exists only by enrolling in a genuine separate private/parochial school, which is school enrollment rather than home education. | Va. Code Ann. 22.1-254 (express bar: home instruction by a parent "shall not be classified or defined as a private, denominational or parochial school" |
| Washington | Unclear ¹ | Washington's default home-based-instruction route (RCW 28A.225.010(5) expressly deems it 'less structured and more experiential' and treats it as an exception to compulsory SCHOOL attendance, not as a school) likely is NOT a 'school' and likely does NOT qualify, but a family that instead enrolls the child in an approved private school's RCW 28A.195.010(4) extension program is by statute part of a private school and would qualify, so the result turns on the pathway chosen. | RCW 28A.225.010(4) & RCW 28A.200.010 (home-based instruction) |
| West Virginia | Can’t use it ¹ | West Virginia regulates home education under a separate non-school "home instruction" exemption (§18-8-1(c)) that the statute deliberately sets apart from its private/parochial/approved-school exemption (§18-8-1(b)), and the state expressly does not recognize home schools as private schools, so a typical home school is not a "school" under state law and has no qualifying §530(b)(3)(A) expense, though a family that instead establishes or enrolls in a bona fide private/parochial/approved school under subsection (b) would qualify. | W. Va. Code §18-8-1(b) & (c) |
| Wisconsin | Can’t use it ¹ | Wisconsin's single-family home school is a "home-based private educational program" that 118.15(4) treats as a substitute FOR attendance at a public or private school and that 115.001(3g) excludes from any multi-family program, so it is a statutory category distinct from a "school" and likely yields no qualifying 530(b)(3) expense, whereas a multi-family microschool is evaluated as a private school under 118.165(1) and would qualify. | Wis. Stat. 115.001(3g), 118.15(4), 118.165(1) |
| Wyoming | Unclear ¹ | Wyoming's own statutory definition of 'private school' (W.S. 21-4-101(a)) expressly states it 'may include parochial and church or religious schools and home-based educational programs,' which pulls toward treating a home school as a 'school' under §530(b)(3)(B), yet the program is separately named in the 21-4-102 compulsory-attendance list and the U.S. DOE state-regulation page states 'a home school is not considered a private school,' leaving the question genuinely unresolved absent Treasury guidance. | W.S. 21-4-101(a) (definitions of 'private school' and 'home-based educational program') and W.S. 21-4-102 |
Questions
Are homeschoolers eligible for the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit?
Nearly every K-12 child can be an eligible student: the test is household income at or below 300% of area median income plus being eligible to enroll in a public school, which homeschooled children generally are. But eligibility is only half the test. A scholarship can only pay for a “qualified expense,” which the law ties to the student’s enrollment or attendance at a public, private, or religious school, with “school” defined by state law. Treasury’s October 2026 proposed regulations adopt that definition. If your state does not treat the home as a school, a homeschooler likely has nothing the scholarship is allowed to pay for.
Did Treasury actually say this?
In its June preview, yes. Treasury’s June 10, 2026 Preview of Forthcoming Section 25F Guidance says: “a home school would be treated as a school if it is treated as a school under State law.” Its October 1, 2026 proposed regulations then give “school” the §530(b)(3)(B) definition, a K-12 school “as determined under State law,” and the preamble says an expense qualifies only with “the applicable connection to a school.” The proposed rules do not repeat the home-school sentence or address homeschooling directly, and Treasury says separate §530 guidance on qualified expenses and schools is coming “as soon as possible.” Until then, homeschool access turns on how each state classifies home education.
Could this change?
Yes. The §25F regulations Treasury released October 1, 2026 are proposed, not final: comments are due December 1, 2026, and the final rules could differ. They confirm that “school” means a K-12 school as determined under state law (the §530(b)(3)(B) definition), the test this map applies, and they do not address homeschooling directly. Treasury says separate §530 guidance will clarify “the meaning of qualified expenses and schools,” calls it a high priority, and has set no date. It could read “school” more broadly. Every classification here is a best-reading prediction, not settled law.
