North Dakota is one of the more demanding states. North Dakota asks for more than most. It is entirely manageable once it is written down in one place, which is what this page is for. Nothing here is harder than it looks; there is just more of it.

What you file, and by when

Annual statement of intent to the superintendent of the child's resident school district (or county superintendent if none), filed at least 14 days before beginning home education, or within 14 days of establishing residence in a district, and once each year thereafter. Must include child's name/address/DOB/grade, supervising parent's name/address/qualifications, immunization record, proof of child's identity (birth certificate or comparable), any public-school courses/extracurriculars requested, and any claimed testing exemption. NDCC 15.1-23-02.

Days or hours

At least 4 hours per day for a minimum of 175 days per year (NDCC 15.1-23-04).

Subjects you must cover

Those subjects required by law to be taught to public school students (NDCC 15.1-23-04, referencing NDCC 15.1-21): English language arts, mathematics, social studies (incl. US Constitution, history, government, geography; North Dakota studies in grades 4 and 8), science (incl. agriculture), physical education, and health. High school adds literature/composition/speech, lab science, US history/civics/economics/personal finance, and a foreign language, fine art, or CTE.

Records you keep

Parent must maintain an annual record of courses taken and the child's academic progress assessments, including any standardized achievement test results (NDCC 15.1-23-05). Records are kept by the parent; not routinely submitted except test scores.

Testing or evaluation

Standardized achievement test in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10, either the test used by the resident district or a nationally normed test at parent request; must be administered by a licensed/approved teacher, in the home learning environment or (on parent request) at a public school; results reported to the superintendent (NDCC 15.1-23-08 through 15.1-23-11). Exemptions available (NDCC 15.1-23-09) if the parent objects on philosophical/moral/religious grounds AND holds a baccalaureate degree, is a licensed teacher, or has met the national teacher exam cutoff. Score below the 30th percentile triggers a multidisciplinary assessment for a learning disability and, if none, a remediation plan until the child reaches the 30th percentile or shows a year's progress. Parents without a diploma/GED must be monitored by a certified teacher for the first two years; monitoring continues if the child scores below the 50th percentile.

Diplomas and transcripts

North Dakota is unusual: NDCC 15.1-23-17 lets the resident school district, an approved nonpublic high school, or the Center for Distance Education issue a high school diploma to a home-educated student who meets that entity's graduation requirements, provided the parent submits a description of course material covered in each high school subject, a description of course objectives and how they were met, and a grades 9-12 transcript. A parent-issued diploma is common in practice but is not the statutory pathway to a state-recognized diploma. Parents pursuing this should keep detailed syllabi and transcripts from 9th grade forward.

Where this comes from

Statute: N.D. Cent. Code ch. 15.1-23 (esp. §§ 15.1-23-02, -03, -04, -05, -08, -09, -11, -12, -17); private-school alternative under N.D. Cent. Code ch. 15.1-06.

Source: https://www.nd.gov/dpi/sites/www/files/documents/SAO/Home%20Education/t15-1c23.pdf

Last reviewed: July 2026 · our confidence in this entry: high

Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes stale without announcing it. Check the statute above against your own reading before a filing deadline. If we are out of date, we would rather hear it from you than have you find out at the district office.

Keeping the records is the other half of this. Our Records System has the editable transcript with the GPA already wired, 131 course descriptions, and this same statute-cited summary for all fifty states and DC. Thirty-nine dollars, one household, however many children you have.