Homeschool funding & ESAs in North Dakota

Can I get paid to homeschool in North Dakota?

No. North Dakota has no ESA or voucher that independent homeschooling families can use. Nationwide grants are listed below, each with its own eligibility rules. Romeschool tracks and organizes what you spend, so a receipt is ready the moment a program asks for one — it never files or submits anything on your behalf. It runs the other way too: North Dakota's homeschool rules require a test or an evaluation in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10. The accepted options, and who administers each, are in the testing line below. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it.

What does North Dakota require of homeschoolers — and what should I plan for?

North Dakota requires a test or an evaluation in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10. That is the part of the year a family arranges ahead of time. Which options North Dakota accepts — and who administers each one — is in the testing line below, in the reviewed rules' own words. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it. What North Dakota asks for — notice, instruction time, testing and records — is set out below, straight from the reviewed rules.

Notice

Yes. North Dakota requires homeschooling families to file a notice. Where it goes: The superintendent of your child's school district of residence — or, if the district employs no superintendent, the county superintendent of schools for your county of residence (NDCC 15.1-23-02). The same pairing applies to the monitor's progress reports and to your child's test results. How: Statement of Intent, state form SFN 16909, filed for each child. It must be accompanied by a copy of the child's immunization record (or documentation of an exemption) and proof of the child's identity under NDCC 12-60-26 — a certified birth certificate is the usual document, but a certified transcript, records from a previous school, or other documentary evidence the district accepts will also do. The form also asks you to attach a copy of the diploma or GED you are relying on to supervise. When: At least 5 days before you begin home education, or within 14 days of establishing your child's residence in a district, and once each year after that (NDCC 15.1-23-02). North Dakota law sets no calendar date for the annual re-filing; an individual district may ask for one anyway — West Fargo's home education page tells guardians to file by September 10 — so check what your own district asks. A separate Statement of Intent is filed for each child, every school year, and you may begin home education five days after you file. The statement must be accompanied by proof of the child's identity and a copy of the child's immunization record (NDCC 15.1-23-02(2)); form SFN 16909 has a box for each.

Testing or evaluation

Yes. North Dakota requires a standardized test. How often: In the specified grades only. What is accepted: The district's standardized achievement test (a nationally-normed test if the parent requests), administered by a licensed teacher. Testing in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10; the parent files the results with the superintendent (NDCC 15.1-23-11(1)). Exemption — any ONE of four grounds is enough on its own (NDCC 15.1-23-09(2)): a philosophical, moral, or religious objection to standardized achievement tests, notified to the district; a teaching license or approval from the Education Standards and Practices Board; a baccalaureate degree; or a score at or above the cutoff of a national teacher examination. The objection does not depend on holding a degree or a license. File the notice and any supporting documentation at the same time as the Statement of Intent — state form SFN 16909 carries a checkbox for each of the four. If a child's basic composite score falls below the 30th percentile nationally, a multidisciplinary assessment team assesses the child for a learning problem; if the team finds no disability and the parent wants to continue, the parent must prepare a remediation plan with the advice and consent of a licensed teacher, pay for it, and file it with the superintendent, or may no longer supervise that child's home education (NDCC 15.1-23-11). A score below the 50th percentile is a separate rule that extends monitoring for a parent who is already monitored (NDCC 15.1-23-06); the Department of Public Instruction's home education page puts monitoring only on a parent who does not hold a diploma or GED, and the state form asks a diploma-holding parent nothing about monitoring.

Days and hours

North Dakota's rule: 175 days, at least 4 hours/day (NDCC 15.1-23-04).

Records

North Dakota requires these records: annual records of courses taken, academic progress assessments, and standardized test results. How long, or where they go: Kept by the parent. Where monitoring applies, it is the monitor — not the parent and not the student — who reports the child's progress to the superintendent twice each school year (NDCC 15.1-23-07(3)). The parent's own record is an annual one: courses taken and the child's academic progress assessments, including any standardized achievement test results. That record goes to a school district only if the child transfers there and the district asks for it (NDCC 15.1-23-05). Filing test results is a separate duty of the parent's own: in each year a child is tested, the parent files the results with the superintendent (NDCC 15.1-23-11(1)).

Full North Dakota homeschool requirements →

Nationwide grants

• ACT Today! Grant · Autism Care Today
  For U.S. families of a child with an autism diagnosis (priority to household income under $100k).
  Open to any family of a child with autism — not homeschool-specific, but useful for therapy costs.
• Dyslexia Services Foundation Grant · Dyslexia Services Foundation
  For low-income U.S. children with dyslexia who cannot otherwise afford treatment (need shown via free/reduced lunch, Medicaid, or SNAP).
  Typically identified through a teacher or provider; not homeschool-specific.
• HSLDA Compassion Curriculum Grant · Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
  For HSLDA members with significant financial need (legal custody of a child 6-19, homeschooling 3+ months).
  You must privately fund your homeschool (not receiving ESA or other public funds).
• HSLDA Disaster Relief Grant · Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
  For homeschooling families (child 6-19) with physical disaster damage in the past 18 months.
• MyGOAL Autism Grant · MyGOAL Inc.
  For the primary caregiver of a child under 18 with autism, with demonstrated financial need.
  Open to any family of a child with autism — not homeschool-specific.
• Our Military Kids Grant · Our Military Kids
  For children (1-18) of deployed National Guard/Reserve members (60+ days) or of post-9/11 combat-injured service members and veterans.
  Funds organized, provider-led activities (not parent-taught core instruction).
• UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Grant · UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation
  For U.S. children aged 16 or under with commercial (non-public) health insurance, subject to income guidelines.
  Medical (not education) funding — useful for special-needs homeschoolers' therapy costs.

Full details, amounts and deadlines for every program →