Homeschooling Numbers Continue To Climb After COVID-19 Pandemic: Report

Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times,

New data from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy’s homeschool research lab show that 90 percent of states reporting data saw an increase in homeschooling in the 2023–2024 school year.

The report examined data from 21 out of 30 states that collect or report homeschool participation information. The other nine states are expected to report data in the coming months.

The 19 states that experienced growth were Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Only Vermont and New Hampshire showed a decline from the previous school year in the total number of homeschooled students.

The report identified two primary trends: sustained growth and rebounding growth. The three states with sustained growth, meaning they experienced no post-COVID-19 pandemic decline, were Louisiana, South Carolina, and South Dakota.

The other 16 states exhibited a rebounding trend, meaning they saw a post-COVID-19 pandemic decline, followed by an increase in 2023–2024.

“While homeschooling grew rapidly during the pandemic, most people thought that students would return to more traditional schools when the pandemic disruptions abated,” the report states.

“Some states did show a decline, but few have returned to normal, even four years after the onset of the pandemic.”

During the 2023–2024 school year, the number of homeschoolers in North Dakota reached an all-time high, reflecting a 24 percent increase from the previous year. Similarly, Rhode Island saw a 67 percent increase in the number of homeschoolers from the previous year. Wyoming also hit an all-time high with an 8 percent increase over the previous year.

“The big takeaway is that this is new homeschool growth that we see in last year’s state reports,” report author Angela Watson said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

“The rebound effect is really interesting and we aren’t sure of the reason—but we know it’s not because of a global pandemic.”

Tracking accurate data on homeschoolers is challenging due to varying legislation and reporting requirements. States have different policies regarding homeschoolers; some classify them as private school students, while others do not.

“The fact that so many states are reporting highest-ever numbers seems like a big finding as well,” Watson said,

“and that these counts are going up while overall school enrollment and population is declining.”

Some states, such as Texas, do not report homeschool statistics. However, other data indicate an increase in homeschool participation in the Lone Star state.

The Texas Homeschool Coalition examined data from the U.S. Census Bureau that showed that homeschooling in Texas nearly tripled between the spring and fall of 2020, rising from 4.5 percent to 12.3 percent.

The coalition also cited information gathered from the Texas Education Agency and statewide school districts indicating that more than 50,000 students migrated from public schools to homeschooling in 2022 and 2023.

“While there is a clear growth trend in homeschooling, the reason for that growth is unknown. What is clear is that this time, the growth is not driven by a global pandemic or sudden disruptions to traditional schooling. Something else is driving this growth,” the Johns Hopkins report states.