North Dakota Homeschool Requirements: A Statement Every Year, Four Hours a Day, and the Scholarship That Asks for Four Years of Them

North Dakota calls it home education, and the whole of it lives in chapter 15.1-23 of the Century Code, with the attendance rules in chapter 15.1-20. Below is what both say, in the Legislative Assembly's own text, alongside the Department of Public Instruction's own parent guide and forms.

The short version

• File a statement of intent at least five days before you begin, or within fourteen days of moving into a school district, with the superintendent of your district of residence.
• File it again every year. The statute says once each year thereafter, and the Department says every school year for each child age 7 or older.
• A parent with a high school diploma or GED is qualified. A parent without either may still teach, with a licensed teacher monitoring for the first two years.
• Teach the subjects public schools are required to teach, at least four hours a day for at least 175 days a year, and keep an annual record of courses and progress.
• Standardized tests in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10, unless the parent holds a bachelor's degree, a teaching license, or a qualifying teacher exam score, or files a philosophical, moral, or religious objection. The exemption is claimed at the same time as the statement.
• Your child may join extracurricular activities through your resident district, under the same standards as enrolled students.
• Compulsory attendance covers ages 7 through 16.
• The North Dakota Scholarship is open to home-educated students, and its application asks for the statements of intent filed for the past four years.

The statement of intent

NDCC 15.1-23-02 sets the timing and the place:

At least five days before beginning home education or within fourteen days of establishing a child's residence in a school district, and once each year thereafter, a parent intending to supervise or supervising home education shall file a statement, reflecting that intent or fact, with the superintendent of the child's school district of residence or if no superintendent is employed, with the county superintendent of schools for the child's county of residence.

The statement must include the child's name, address, date of birth, and grade level; the name, address, and qualifications of the supervising parent; any public school courses your child plans to take; and any extracurricular activities your child plans to join. It must come with a copy of your child's immunization record and proof of identity. The Department's parent guide words the immunization item as proof of immunization or documentation of exemption as described in ND Century Code.

You may use the Department's form, SFN 16909, or submit a written statement that covers all required items. The Department's guide also says two things a family should know before walking into a district office:

• Districts cannot deny home education or ask for extra documentation beyond the Statement of Intent requirements.
• Districts cannot require you to register for Infinite Campus or another portal as a condition of accepting your Statement of Intent unless your child will take district courses.

Send it to your district of residence even if your child has open enrolled somewhere else, and even if your district has no high school. Then wait. The guide's answer to How soon can we start home education? is Five days after you submit the Statement of Intent.

Every year, not once

South Dakota, next door, asks for a single notification unless something changes. North Dakota's statute says once each year thereafter, the form itself says A separate Statement of Intent to Supervise Home Education Form must be completed annually for each child in home education, and the Department's guide answers Do I need to notify every year? with Yes for each child age 7 or older. The form has a line for the superintendent's signature and the date it was filed. Keep the signed copy each year. You'll see below why four of them matter.

Who can teach

Under NDCC 15.1-23-03, a parent may supervise home education if the parent holds a high school diploma or a general educational development diploma. The form asks you to attach a copy.

A parent without either may still supervise, but under 15.1-23-06 the parent must be monitored for the first two years by a licensed or board-approved teacher, who reports the child's progress to the superintendent twice a year. The district assigns and pays the monitor unless you choose and pay your own. If the child scores below the 50th percentile on a standardized test during that time, monitoring runs at least one more year and until the score reaches the 50th percentile. Once a parent completes monitoring for one child, it isn't required again for that parent's other children.

What you teach, and for how long

NDCC 15.1-23-04:

A parent supervising home education shall include instruction in those subjects required by law to be taught to public school students. The instruction must have a duration of at least four hours each day for a minimum of one hundred seventy-five days each year.

Four hours a day for 175 days is a real number, so plan your calendar around it. The chapter doesn't list the subjects itself; it points to the ones public schools are required to teach. Section 15.1-23-05 then asks you to keep a record:

A parent supervising home education shall maintain an annual record of courses taken by the child and the child's academic progress assessments, including any standardized achievement test results.

You keep that record yourself. You hand it over, on request, only if your child transfers into a public school district.

Testing, and the exemption you claim on day one

Under NDCC 15.1-23-09, while in grades four, six, eight, and ten, each child receiving home education takes either the standardized achievement test the district uses or, at the parent's request, a nationally normed one. A licensed or board-approved teacher administers it, in the child's learning environment or, if you ask, at a public school. If your child takes the district's test, the district pays for the test and for giving it. If you choose a different test, you pay for the test, and you pay for administering it if you pick the person who gives it. The results go to the superintendent.

The test isn't required if the parent notifies the district that the parent has a philosophical, moral, or religious objection to the use of standardized achievement tests, or that the parent is licensed or approved to teach in North Dakota, holds a baccalaureate degree, or has met the cutoff score on a national teacher examination. Then comes the sentence that sets the timing:

The parent shall file the notification and necessary documentation required by this subsection with the school district at the same time that the parent files the statement of intent to supervise home education required by section 15.1-23-02.

So the exemption isn't something to remember in third grade. It goes in with the statement, with the documentation attached (a copy of your degree, for instance), and the form has a checkbox for it. A family that qualifies and wants the exemption should claim it on the same day it files.

Below the 30th percentile

If a tested child's basic composite score is below the 30th percentile nationally, 15.1-23-11 calls for a multidisciplinary assessment team to assess the child for a potential learning problem. If the team finds the child isn't disabled and you want to keep going, you prepare a remediation plan with the advice and consent of a licensed or approved teacher, at your own cost, and file it with the superintendent. The plan stays in effect until the child scores at or above the 30th percentile, or shows a year of progress over the prior year's score. The statute is blunt about the alternative: If the parent fails to file a remediation plan, the parent is deemed to be in violation of compulsory school attendance provisions and may no longer supervise the home education of the child. Sections 15.1-23-13 through 15.1-23-15 set separate rules for a child the team finds has a disability or a developmental disability.

Activities and public school courses

NDCC 15.1-23-16 says a child receiving home education may participate in extracurricular activities under the auspices of the child's school district of residence, or of an approved nonpublic school if permitted by the administrator of the school. Either way, your child is held to the same participation standards as full-time students there. And once you name the district or school on your statement of intent, the child is subject to the transfer rules as provided in the constitution and bylaws of the North Dakota high school activities association. We haven't read those bylaws, so check them before you switch schools for activities.

That's also why the statement asks which activities and courses your child plans to join. The Department's guide adds that home-educated students may take one or more public school courses.

Ages and the penalty

NDCC 15.1-20-01 covers a child between the ages of seven and sixteen years, and 15.1-20-02 lists The child is receiving home education among the exceptions. One edge case: if you enroll a six-year-old in public school, the statute says you may withdraw the child, but you may not re-enroll until the following school year unless you've moved districts. Under 15.1-20-03, failing to ensure attendance is an infraction for a first offense and a class B misdemeanor after that.

Diplomas

The Department's guide says Most home education diplomas are issued by the parent who supervises home education. Under NDCC 15.1-23-17, your district of residence, an approved nonpublic high school, or the North Dakota Center for Distance Education may issue one instead, if you submit a description of the course material in each high school subject, the course objectives and how they were met, and a transcript of grades nine through twelve. The Department calls that a local decision and not required by state law. Its guide also lists the state's minimum graduation credits for home-educated students, including one credit in computer science or cybersecurity, and says the state civics test isn't required for most home-educated students unless the local school district will issue the diploma or the student seeks the North Dakota Scholarship.

The scholarship, and why you keep every statement

This is the section to read while your child is still young. The Department's guide says Home educated students are eligible for the North Dakota Scholarship if they are residents and meet the scholarship requirements, with applications open from January through the first Friday in June. The scholarship FAQ spells out what a home-educated applicant sends:

Home educated students are eligible for the scholarship application with verified documentation by completing the Home Education Transcript for the North Dakota Scholarship Program SFN 60374, Home Education Verification for the Scholarship, and "Statement of Intent - Home Education Statutory Requirements" SFN 16909 form that was filed with their school district for the past four years that their child was home-educated.

The transcript form, SFN 60374, has a page for grades 9 through 12 with each course, final grade, and credits, a cumulative GPA, a place for an ACT score, and a notary block. It repeats the instruction: Provide copies of the "Statement of Intent - Home Education" forms that were filed with your school district for the last four years. Under the FAQ, an eligible student receives $750 per semester or $500 per quarter, up to six thousand dollars across the state's scholarships, at eligible North Dakota institutions. The FAQ lists an ACT composite of 24 or higher as one of the qualifying test scores and says the ACT is still required for the scholarship even though the university system dropped it for admission.

Put those pieces together and the advice is simple. For a student home-educated all through high school, the four statements a senior's application needs are the ones you file in ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade. Keep the signed copy every year, keep the course-and-grade record the statute already asks for, and the notarized transcript becomes a copying job, not a reconstruction.

State funding: not in North Dakota, as of 2025

In 2025 the Legislative Assembly passed House Bill 1540, which would have paid nonpublic and homeschool families for educational expenses through education savings accounts. The governor vetoed it, and the House then voted down the alternative, Senate Bill 2400. We know of no state homeschool funding in North Dakota today. Check before relying on that, because school choice bills come back.

What this actually means for your week

North Dakota asks for a yearly statement, four real hours of teaching a day for 175 days, a record of what your child studied and how they did, and a test every other year from fourth grade unless you claim the exemption. None of it is hard. All of it is easier when the record keeps itself.

That is what we built for. Mrs. M teaches your child the core subjects one on one, at their level, and keeps a record of every session as a byproduct of teaching it: which subject, which lesson, what your child worked on, and how they did. When the superintendent asks for the record because your child is moving to public school, or when a high schooler needs a transcript for the scholarship, the years are already written down. You're still the one who supervises, and the one who signs. We don't promise your child will hit any particular percentile. Nobody honest does.

Curious how this works day to day with your own curriculum? Here's the honest guide to teaching your own curriculum with us, written for every out-of-state family, North Dakota included. Since North Dakota asks you to keep a yearly record, homeschool record keeping is the natural next read. Or see the requirements for every other state.