Homeschooling Facts & Research

In the video above you will learn more about...

• The history of homeschooling in the US
• The importance of educational freedom
• Information about the philosophy of the research
• Why the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) is an important part of the history and future of healthy homeschooling freedom in America, and worldwide

Dr. Brian Ray is likely the world's leading authority on home education research. In this video, Dr. Ray explains what the data and research show about the success of homeschooling and offers insight into why homeschoolers perform better!  

The Facts on Homeschooling: It Works Really Well

• There were about 3.1 million homeschool students in 2021-2022 in grades K-12 in the United States  (roughly 6% of school-age children). There were about 2.5 million homeschool students in spring 2019 (or 3% to 4% of school-age children) [note 1]. The homeschool population had been growing at an estimated 2% to 8% per annum over the past several years, but it grew drastically from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021.

• Homeschooling – that is, parent-led home-based education; home education – is an age-old traditional educational practice that a decade ago appeared to be cutting-edge and “alternative” but is now bordering on “mainstream” in the United States. It may be the fastest-growing form of education in the United States. Home-based education has also been growing around the world in many other nations (e.g., Australia, Canada, France, Hungary, Japan, Kenya, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, and the United Kingdom).

• A demographically wide variety of people homeschool – these are atheists, Christians, and Mormons; conservatives, libertarians, and liberals; low-, middle-, and high-income families; black, Hispanic, and white; parents with Ph.D.s, GEDs, and no high-school diplomas. One nationwide study shows that 41% of homeschool students are Black, Asian, Hispanic, and others (i.e., not White/non-Hispanic) (U.S. Department of Education, 2019).

• Taxpayers spend an average of $16,446 per pupil annually in public schools, plus capital expenditures (National Education Association, 2023). The roughly 3.1 million homeschool students of 2021-22 represented a savings of over $51 billion for taxpayers. This is $51 billion that American taxpayers did not have to spend.

• Taxpayers spend nothing on the vast majority of homeschool students, while homeschool families spend an average of $600 per student annually for their education. Families engaged in home-based education are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources for their children’s education.

• Homeschooling is quickly growing in popularity among minorities. About 41% of homeschool families are non-white/non-Hispanic (i.e., not white/Anglo).

• It is estimated that over 9 million Americans had experienced being homeschooled as of February of 2020.

NHERI conducts sound homeschooling research, is a clearinghouse of research for the public, researchers, homeschoolers, the media, and policy makers, and educates the public concerning the findings of all related research.

NHERI executes, evaluates, and disseminates studies and information (e.g., statistics, facts, data) on homeschooling (i.e., home schooling, home-based education, home education, home school, home-schooling, unschooling, deschooling, a form of alternative education), publishes reports and the peer-reviewed scholarly journal Home School Researcher, and serves in consulting, academic achievement tests, and expert witness (in courts and legislatures).