Homeschool funding & ESAs in Wyoming

Can I get paid to homeschool in Wyoming?

Not as a salary. Wyoming has the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship (ESA) — an account or award spent on approved education costs, not a payment for teaching. The program is operating and paying for 2026-27. On May 14, 2026 the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the district court's PRELIMINARY injunction (2026 WY 54) because the plaintiffs had not shown irreparable personal injury; it did not decide whether the program is constitutional, and it remanded — the case continues in district court, so the program's long-term status is not finally resolved. A child on the ESA may not be enrolled in a public school, and Wyoming law does not count an ESA student as a home-based educational program student (W.S. 21-2-904) — usable by a family teaching at home, but the child is reclassified. Two duties the ESA adds: an annual written notice of participation to the resident school district (W.S. 21-2-905(f)(i); the first within 15 days of the parent contract's effective date), and sending assessment results or the vendor's completion documentation to the Department within 14 days (parent contract, ESA Family Handbook). Parents must see that the child is taught the core subjects and is assessed through the state assessment or a nationally norm-referenced test. 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. Wyoming's homeschool rules require no test or evaluation, and how the year is reviewed depends on the pathway you choose — the testing line below has the reviewed wording. What Wyoming asks for — notice, instruction time, testing and records — is set out below, straight from the reviewed rules.

Wyoming scholarships, grants & tax credits

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

Wyoming does not require a test or an evaluation, and how the year is reviewed depends on the pathway you choose: Testing applies only on the ESA (Steamboat Legacy Scholarship) pathway — a home-based educational program has none. What Wyoming asks for — notice, instruction time, testing and records — is set out below, straight from the reviewed rules.

Notice

Only in some cases. Wyoming requires a notice only in the circumstances described here. Where it goes: Local school district. How: Leaving a public school: under W.S. 21-4-102(c) a parent of a child under 18 who has not already told the district that the child is enrolling elsewhere — in another district, a private school or a home-based educational program — meets in person with a district counselor or administrator and signs a written consent to the withdrawal, which also authorizes release of the student's identity and address to the Wyoming National Guard Youth Challenge program for recruitment into that program only. The statute sets no form, deadline or office for that earlier notice, so ask your district what it accepts before relying on it instead of the meeting. On the ESA pathway: an annual notice of intent to participate, to your resident school district (W.S. 21-2-905(f)(i)). When: When a child leaves a public school, at the time of leaving. On the ESA pathway, every year, and the Department's parent contract sets the first notice at no later than 15 days after the contract's effective date. HB 46 (the Homeschool Freedom Act, effective July 1, 2025) ended the annual curriculum submission Wyoming used to require; the seven-subject standard stayed. A home-based educational program files no annual notice. The only notice is the one W.S. 21-4-102(c) requires when a child under 18 leaves a public school, and a child who was never enrolled needs none. The ESA is a separate pathway and does carry a notice, whether or not the child ever attended a public school: W.S. 21-2-905(f)(i) says the parent of a K-12 ESA student shall annually give the resident public school district notice of intent to participate, and W.S. 21-4-102(d) treats that notice as satisfying the compulsory attendance law. The deadline for the first one is not statutory — it is a term of the Department's parent contract, which requires written notice to the district no later than 15 days after the contract's effective date. The Department's ESA Family Handbook says the program's acceptance email may serve as that notification, and tells families to ask their own district how to file the annual one. The pre-kindergarten ESA track does not carry this notice.

Testing or evaluation

No. Wyoming does not require standardized testing for homeschooled students. Testing applies only on the ESA (Steamboat Legacy Scholarship) pathway — a home-based educational program has none. Wyoming requires no testing or evaluation of a home-based educational program, and a family that wants the state test can ask its district to include the child — the Department's guidance for parentally placed students says private-school and homeschool students are not required to take the state assessment but are invited to take it free of charge. The ESA is different. W.S. 21-2-904(b)(ii)(B) requires an ESA student to take the statewide assessment under W.S. 21-2-304(a) or a nationally normed achievement exam every year; the state test covers grades 3-10, and the Department publishes a list of accepted normed exams for the grades it does not reach. The duty to report is the Department's, not the statute's: the ESA Family Handbook requires the results, or the vendor's documentation that the child finished the exam, to be sent to the Department within 14 days of the parent receiving them, and says a student whose results are not uploaded by then may not be eligible to continue in the program.

Days and hours

None. Wyoming does not set a minimum number of instructional days or hours for homeschoolers. No specific days or hours requirement in the homeschool statute.

Records

Wyoming does not require homeschooling families to keep specific records. No statutory record-keeping (records advised for transcripts).

Full Wyoming homeschool requirements →

Common questions about homeschool funding in Wyoming

Does Wyoming have an education savings account (ESA) for homeschoolers?

Yes — the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship (ESA). The program is operating and paying for 2026-27. On May 14, 2026 the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the district court's PRELIMINARY injunction (2026 WY 54) because the plaintiffs had not shown irreparable personal injury; it did not decide whether the program is constitutional, and it remanded — the case continues in district court, so the program's long-term status is not finally resolved. A child on the ESA may not be enrolled in a public school, and Wyoming law does not count an ESA student as a home-based educational program student (W.S. 21-2-904) — usable by a family teaching at home, but the child is reclassified. Two duties the ESA adds: an annual written notice of participation to the resident school district (W.S. 21-2-905(f)(i); the first within 15 days of the parent contract's effective date), and sending assessment results or the vendor's completion documentation to the Department within 14 days (parent contract, ESA Family Handbook). Parents must see that the child is taught the core subjects and is assessed through the state assessment or a nationally norm-referenced test. Wyoming's Steamboat Legacy Scholarship pays $7,000 a student a year into an education savings account, quarterly in equal installments starting September 1; for 2026-27 the Department of Education's calendar lists early September 2026, early November 2026, early February 2027 and early May 2027, and the Department's page says it can make those payouts now. Applications are annual and the 2026-27 window has closed. The Department's July 30, 2026 update said the application would remain open until 11:59:59 p.m. on August 6, that applicants would hear by September 1, and no later window has been published. K-12 eligibility carries no income test — the Department's handbook asks that the child be a Wyoming resident, not have graduated or earned a GED, and be younger than 21 on August 1 of the year applied for — and the one condition is that the child may not be enrolled in a public school while on the ESA, though individual classes may still be bought from a district or charter school by contract. The separate pre-kindergarten track runs one year only and is limited to households at or below 250% of the federal poverty level. Taking an ESA changes which law your child is schooled under: W.S. 21-2-904(f) says an ESA student receiving individualized instruction outside a school is not a home-based educational program student, and the signed parent agreement satisfies the attendance law in place of the homeschool pathway (W.S. 21-2-905(f)(i)). Two duties come with it that Wyoming homeschooling does not otherwise carry — an annual statewide or nationally normed achievement test, with the results or the vendor's documentation of completion sent to the Department within 14 days of your receiving them, and an annual written notice of participation to your resident school district, the first due within 15 days of the parent contract's effective date. On the lawsuit: a district court froze the program for most of a year, and on May 14, 2026 the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed that preliminary injunction, holding the district court had abused its discretion because the plaintiffs had not shown they would be irreparably injured (Degenfelder v. Wyoming Education Association, 2026 WY 54). The Court did not decide whether the program is constitutional; it remanded the case, and the Department's own page says the underlying case is still being litigated in district court, so the program's long-term standing is not settled. Eligibility and current status for it are listed on this page, and both can change from year to year.

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 →