Homeschool Requirements in Minnesota

Minnesota asks for a few particular things. A short list of real requirements, none of them heavy on its own. The dates undo more families than the paperwork ever does, so put them in the calendar in the same week you begin, alongside everything else a household is carrying. Do that and the rest of this page becomes reading instead of worry.

What you send in, and when it is due

Minnesota asks for more paperwork than most states, and the first filing is the heaviest. Initial report to the superintendent of the district of residence by October 1 of the first school year the child receives instruction after turning seven (or within 15 days of withdrawing a child over seven from public school, within 15 days of moving out of a district, and by October 1 after establishing a new resident district). The initial report must include: the child’s name, birth date and address; the annual test(s) intended to be used under § 120A.22, subd. 11; the name of each instructor; and evidence that the instructor meets one of the qualification options in § 120A.22, subd. 10. In every subsequent year, only a letter of intent to continue providing instruction (plus any changes to the above) is due by October 1. The superintendent may offer an electronic form but cannot require electronic submission. Separately, an immunization statement or a properly executed conscientious/medical exemption must be filed with the district (Minn. Stat. § 121A.15).

Days and hours

None specified for home instruction. Minnesota imposes no minimum days or hours on nonpublic/home instruction; § 120A.22, subd. 5 simply requires that children ages 7 through 17 receive instruction. The 165-day public school year does not apply to homeschools.

Subjects the law names

Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 9: basic communication skills including reading and writing, literature, and fine arts; mathematics and science; social studies including history, geography, economics, government and citizenship; and health and physical education. All instruction, textbooks and materials must be in English (with limited statutory exceptions). Instructor qualification is also required (subd. 10): hold a valid Minnesota teaching license; be directly supervised by a licensed teacher; successfully complete a teacher competency exam; teach at an accredited school; hold a baccalaureate degree; or be the child’s parent. The parent option is open only if the child is assessed annually under subd. 11.

The law names the subjects. It does not name the course titles a registrar will read, and Bible is where that gap costs families most. Booking Bible as a real subject on a transcript.

What you keep

Required and specific. Under § 120A.24, subd. 2, the person in charge of instruction must maintain documentation that the subjects in § 120A.22, subd. 9 are being taught and proof that the required annual tests were administered. That documentation must include class schedules, copies of instructional materials used, and descriptions of the methods used to assess student achievement. It is not routinely submitted, but must be made available to the county attorney if a compulsory-instruction case is commenced. If the child later enrolls full time in public school, the parent must provide the child’s test scores and other education records the district needs for placement. Accredited nonpublic schools are exempt from subd. 2.

Testing and evaluation

Each year, every child ages 7 through 16 (and 16-17-year-olds for whom an initial report was filed after age 16) who is not enrolled in public school must be assessed with a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement examination. The superintendent and the person in charge of instruction must agree on the specific test, how it is administered and where. That is a real point of friction, so get the agreement in writing early. Scores are not reported to the state or district as a matter of course. If the exam does not cover all subject areas in subd. 9, the parent must assess the remaining areas (this applies only to a parent-instructor who does not hold a Minnesota license and is not under a licensed teacher’s direct supervision). If the total battery score is at or below the 30th percentile, or one grade level below the level for the child’s age, the parent must obtain additional evaluation to determine whether the child has learning problems. Children instructed by an accredited nonpublic school/person/institution are exempt from the testing requirement.

An assessment is read against what you wrote down while it was happening, which is the part a morning hour tends to lose. Putting morning time and the church year on a record without inflating it.

What an evaluator or a test result gets attached to is the folder beneath the transcript. The Records Pack has the portfolio index with its evaluator summary, editable, in both editions.

The diploma and the transcript

Minnesota does not issue a state homeschool diploma; the parent/nonpublic school issues its own diploma and transcript, and there are no state credit or course requirements for it. Practically important: compulsory instruction and the reporting/testing obligations end at 17, so many families file their final letter of intent for the year the student turns 17. Homeschooled students are eligible for Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) in grades 10-12 (Minn. Stat. § 124D.09), a major reason to keep a rigorous transcript, since PSEO admission is by the college and grade-10 entry generally requires a qualifying reading score. Homeschoolers may participate in public school extracurriculars and may access shared-time instruction and some nonpublic pupil aids (textbook/health services aid, Minn. Stat. § 123B.42). The Minnesota K-12 Education Credit and Subtraction (Minn. Stat. § 290.0674) is available to homeschooling families for qualifying instructional expenses, but does not cover the cost of the parent’s own instruction or, for the credit, textbooks used to teach religious tenets. Minnesota has no ESA or voucher program.

Where the law names religion

One narrow point, worth knowing before you buy books. The Minnesota K-12 Education Credit at Minn. Stat. § 290.0674 is open to homeschooling families for qualifying instructional expenses, but the credit does not cover textbooks used to teach religious tenets. Keep the receipts for Bible and catechism material apart from the rest. They are not claimed the same way.

Where this comes from

Statute: Minn. Stat. §§ 120A.22 (subds. 5, 9, 10, 11, 12), 120A.24 (subds. 1-4), 120A.26; see also §§ 121A.15 (immunization), 123B.42, 124D.09, 290.0674

Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/120A.24

Last reviewed: July 2026. The day is not recorded.

Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes quietly out of date. Before a filing deadline, read the code above yourself. If we have fallen behind we would much rather hear it from you than have you find out at a district office.

All fifty states and the District of Columbia, each one citing the law it came from.

Filing is one part of it. Keeping the record is the other, and that is what our Records System is for: the editable transcript with the GPA already working, 131 academic course descriptions, the Bible and theology descriptions, and this same cited summary for every state and DC. Protestant and Catholic editions. Thirty-nine dollars, one household, however many children you teach.