Homeschool Requirements in New Jersey

New Jersey asks nothing of you each year. No yearly notice. No registration, no testing, nothing to send in. What your children are taught, and why, stays between you and the One you answer to. One step is still yours, and it is the one families miss: a child who is enrolled in a public school right now has to be withdrawn, and reading this page does not do it. Do that first. Everything below is what New Jersey actually requires, with the code named at the foot so you can read it for yourself.

What you send in, and when it is due

None. New Jersey requires no notice of intent, no registration, no curriculum approval, and no annual paperwork of any kind. N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25 requires only that a child aged 6-16 attend public school or “receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school.” If the child is currently enrolled in public school, send a written withdrawal letter to the district as a practical matter. A district may only inquire further if it has credible evidence the child is not receiving equivalent instruction, and the NJDOE FAQ directs districts not to demand documentation absent such evidence.

Days and hours

None. No day or hour minimum, and no attendance tracking requirement.

Subjects the law names

None enumerated for homeschoolers. The only standard is that the instruction be “equivalent” to what is taught in public school, a general academic-equivalence standard with no subject checklist and no verification mechanism.

What you keep

None required by law. Strongly advised anyway: keep a curriculum outline, work samples, and a transcript, both to answer any future “equivalent instruction” inquiry and for college admissions. Note that two bills pending in 2026 (A5825 and A5796) would impose annual registration, curriculum submission, portfolios, third-party evaluators, and an in-person health/wellness check; neither has passed as of July 2026, but families should watch them.

Testing and evaluation

None. No standardized testing, no evaluator, no portfolio review, no state assessment of any kind.

The diploma and the transcript

No state-recognized homeschool diploma. Parents issue their own diploma and transcript, which NJ colleges and employers generally accept; NJ public colleges do not require a GED from homeschool graduates. Districts have no obligation to grant credit, issue transcripts, or allow homeschooled students to take district courses or participate in interscholastic athletics (NJSIAA generally bars homeschool participation). No state-mandated high-school credits. No ESA/voucher program for homeschoolers.

A diploma you signed yourself rests on the transcript behind it and on nothing else. What does not belong on a homeschool transcript.

If the transcript is the piece you are short of, it is free on its own: The Transcript Template, with the weighted and unweighted GPA already working.

Where this comes from

Statute: N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25 (attendance required of children between six and 16; exceptions); N.J.S.A. 18A:38-26; State v. Massa, 95 N.J. Super. 382 (1967)

Source: https://www.nj.gov/education/safety/nontraditional/faq_homeschool.shtml

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.