California Homeschools Info

Home Schooling Statistics

Amazing Home School Numbers
It might surprise you to learn that 850,000 students were home schooled in the US in 1999. The total population of students in the US was 50,200,000 at that time. While traditional schools normally spend close to $2,000 per year per student, home schooling per child was estimated to cost around $450 in 1999.

The majority of home school children that year came from families whose income ranged between $25,000 and $44,000. The level of state regulation on home schooled childrens' standardized testing scores was minimal with high-regulated states and low-regulated states both showing battery scores of 86. There was also no difference in the scores between children who were taught in a home where at least one parent was a certified teacher and those taught in homes where neither was certified.

Home Schooling Growth
By 2001, estimates were that over two million children were home schooled in the US. In spite of the rapid growth in Charter Schools, there is some reason to believe that home schooling may have a greater long-term impact than any other recent schooling innovations. Many home schooled children are now adults and doing well at the university level, possibly home schooling their own children.

The largest study ever done of home schooling in the US was conducted by Dr. Brian Ray in 1999. Dr. Ray is the president of the National Home Education Research Institute. The study included 5,402 students from 1,657 families. The results showed that home schooled students consistently scored very high academically. In reading, compared to the mean public school score of 50, home schooled students scored 87. In language, home schooled students scored 80. And in math, they scored 82, all as compared to the public school mean of 50.