Homeschool funding & ESAs in Virginia

Can I get paid to homeschool in Virginia?

No. Virginia 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: Virginia's homeschool rules require a test or an evaluation each year. The accepted options, and who administers each, are in the testing line below. Which pathway you homeschool under changes that, so read the testing line before you plan around it. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it.

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

Virginia requires a test or an evaluation each year. That is the part of the year a family arranges ahead of time. Which pathway you homeschool under changes this: Standard home instruction (§ 22.1-254.1); the separate religious-exemption pathway (§ 22.1-254(B)(1)) has no assessment. Which options Virginia 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 Virginia asks for — notice, instruction time, testing and records — is set out below, straight from the reviewed rules.

Notice

Yes. Virginia requires homeschooling families to file a notice. Where it goes: Division superintendent. How: Written Notice of Intent, filed annually, with a description of the curriculum — which § 22.1-254.1(B) limits to a list of the subjects to be studied in the coming year — plus evidence that the parent meets one of the four qualification options. When: By August 15 each year. A family that moves into the division, or begins home instruction after the school year has started, notifies the superintendent as soon as practicable — there is no grace period on the notice itself — and then has 30 days from that notice to file the subject list and the evidence of the parent's qualification (§ 22.1-254.1(B)). Annual filing each school year.

Testing or evaluation

Yes. Virginia requires a test or another accepted form of evaluation. How often: Annual. Who this applies to: Standard home instruction (§ 22.1-254.1); the separate religious-exemption pathway (§ 22.1-254(B)(1)) has no assessment. Accepted options: A nationally normed standardized achievement test with a composite score in or above the fourth stanine — the 23rd percentile or better — or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT or PSAT; an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person holding a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, who has knowledge of the child's academic progress and states in the letter that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress; A report card or transcript from an institution of higher education, a college distance learning program, or a home-education correspondence school; and any other evaluation or assessment the division superintendent determines shows the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress. Assessment evidence is due to the division superintendent by August 1 following the school year (§ 22.1-254.1(C)). A child who is under the age of six as of September 30 of the school year owes no evidence of progress for that year; a family providing home instruction still files the August 15 Notice of Intent. The statute gives two routes — a qualifying test score, or any evaluation or assessment the division superintendent determines shows adequate educational growth and progress. The evaluation letter and the report card or transcript are the two examples § 22.1-254.1(C) names for that second route, and the list is not closed: the section introduces them with 'including', and Va. Code § 1-218 defines that term for the whole Code as 'includes, but not limited to'. Which other evidence qualifies is the superintendent's determination, so ask the division before relying on it. If evidence of progress is not provided, the home instruction program for that child may be placed on probation for one year: the parent files with the superintendent evidence of ability to provide an adequate education and a remediation plan for the probationary year. If the plan and evidence are not accepted, or evidence of progress is still not provided by the August 1 following the probationary year, home instruction must cease and the parent must make other arrangements under § 22.1-254. A party aggrieved by the superintendent's decision may appeal within 30 days to an independent hearing officer (§ 22.1-254.1(E)). The separate religious exemption — once approved by the school board — requires no annual Notice of Intent, no curriculum description, and no assessment.

Days and hours

None. Virginia does not set a minimum number of instructional days or hours for homeschoolers. No minimum days or hours mandated for home instruction.

Records

Virginia requires these records: evidence of progress / assessment results. How long, or where they go: Submitted to the superintendent by August 1. Assessment evidence is submitted annually, starting with the first school year in which the child is six or older as of September 30 (§ 22.1-254.1(C)).

Full Virginia 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 →