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Posted: August 1, 2012

Home schools expand in NC, but enrollment drops

Pregnant Army wife balances eight children

Home schooling doubles in N.C. over a decade

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Raleigh, N.C. — The number of home schools in North Carolina grew in the 2011-12 school year, but their total enrollment fell, officials said Wednesday.

Almost 48,000 home schools operate statewide, up from 45,524 in 2010-11, according to the state Division of Non-Public Education. Wake County has the largest number, at 4,419. Cumberland County ranked seventh statewide, with 1,393 home schools, while Johnston County is ninth, with 1,068 home schools.

The estimated statewide home-school enrollment in 2011-12 was 79,693, down from 83,609 the previous year.

Officials said the enrollment numbers disclosed by the home schools or the number of active home schools could be off, which could explain the drop in estimated enrollment. North Carolina laws for non-public school don't require home schools to disclose enrollment beyond one student.

The estimated home school enrollment represents about 5 percent of the state’s student population.

Web Editor: Matthew Burns

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To find out about home schooling you can go to the NC Department of Non-Public Education. They have answers to your questions and home school Statistics.

I also recommend finding a good home school group in your area. That will connect you with experienced home school families for guidance, sports, clubs, field trips, etc.

mtoebes
August 2, 2012 2:02 p.m.

so, there are people that homeschool kids other than their? Please don't take me for stupid, but I really don't know much about home schooling. I think thats pretty neat. I thought that it had to the parent doing the home schooling. How can one find out about home schools in their area???

sabby06
August 1, 2012 6:23 p.m.

The NC Division of Nonpublic Education (NC DNPE) does not track number of students enrolled in each homeschool.

"There is a limit of one NOI per household (not per child). Therefore, it is NOT necessary for the chief administrator to file another NOI to add an additional student." http://www.ncdnpe.org/documents/HomeSchoolGuideBook.pdf

So I'm not sure the source of the number of students who are homeschooled. The majority of homeschooling families (as far as I'm aware) do not notify the DNPE for each student. So the statistics on number of homeschooled students would not be remotely accurate since the information is not required or even recommended to be submitted.

susanbyerly830
August 1, 2012 4:14 p.m.

If you look at the historical data of homeschooling in this state, it's been a double digit increase annually for a very long time. And it seems to be trending that way nationally as well. People are tired of waiting for 'improvement' when it seems to be a politically correct experiment instead.

http://gaither.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/all-the-available-state-homeschooling-data-2011/

There is a chart showing data from 2000 to 2011. North Carolina went from 33K homeschooled in 2000 to well above 80K in 2011.