Alden House. Parent Center

Homeschooling in Alaska

What the law requires, what you file and when, and what to keep — with the statute behind each rule.

no notice required 8 sources Verified 12 October 2026

What Alaska requires

Notify
None for home education by parent. Private/religious school option: local superintendent (enrollment) and the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (reports).
Testing or evaluation
Not required.
Subjects set by the state
No subject list.
Teaching time
180 days — in detail
Compulsory school age
7 to under 16
Records
None required for home education by parent.

Confidence in this record: medium. The facts below come from the sources listed, but at least one could not be confirmed against a primary source.

Taking your child out of school in Alaska

Not required by law for home education by a parent, but it is wise to send the school a written notice that the child is withdrawing to be educated at home under AS 14.30.010(b)(12) so the child is not marked truant. To use a correspondence program, enroll in it instead.

The legal routes

5 routes exist in Alaska. They carry different duties, and families often do not know the alternatives to the obvious one.

Home education by parent (AS 14.30.010(b)(12))
A parent or legal guardian teaches the child at home. No notice, testing, teacher qualifications or records are required by the state. The most common option.
Public correspondence (homeschool) program
Enroll full-time in a state- or district-run correspondence program. The child is a public school student: an annual individual learning plan, a certificated teacher's oversight, state testing, and usually an annual allotment for approved educational expenses.
Religious or other private school (AS 14.45.100-.130)
Operate as an exempt private or religious school: file enrollment with the local superintendent and reports with the state, 180 days of instruction, and standardized tests in grades 4, 6 and 8.
Certificated private tutor
Tutoring by a teacher certificated in Alaska, providing education comparable to the public schools.
School board-approved alternative
The local school board may excuse a child who is equally well served by an educational experience it approves; request in writing to the school.

The notice, and who receives it

None for home education by parent. Private/religious school option: local superintendent (enrollment) and the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (reports). Nothing has to be filed with any authority to begin.

Teaching time

None for home education by parent. Private/religious school option: 180 days.

Who may teach

None for home education by parent. Tutor and teachers in the certificated-private-school route must hold Alaska certification.

Testing and evaluation

None for home education by parent. Private/religious school option: nationally standardized test in grades 4, 6 and 8 (results kept, available to the state on request).

Correspondence program students take state assessments.

Records to keep

None required for home education by parent. Private/religious school option: monthly attendance, immunizations, physical exams, courses, test results and achievement.

High school, diplomas and transcripts

Parent issues the diploma under home education. Correspondence program students can earn a district diploma by meeting that district's graduation requirements.

Public school classes, sports and activities

Part-time enrollment may be allowed by districts subject to space (state regulation; check district). Sports and activities follow Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) alternative-education eligibility rules; correspondence students generally have access, while eligibility for independent homeschoolers varies (e.g.

Anchorage allows homeschool students in grades 9-12 to apply).

Funding: education savings accounts, vouchers and tax credits

No ESA or voucher. Families who enroll in a public correspondence program usually receive an annual student allotment for approved materials and services; the Alaska Supreme Court in 2025 (DEED v.

Alexander) held the allotment statutes not facially unconstitutional, though specific uses can still be challenged.

What changed recently

2024: a superior court struck down the correspondence allotment statutes; in 2025 the Alaska Supreme Court reversed, so allotments continue (as-applied challenges remain possible). In 2026 the Legislature debated routing correspondence funding through students' home districts; a Senate committee removed that overhaul (final outcome not confirmed).

The home education exemption itself is unchanged.

What we could not confirm

Could not load the current official text of AS 14.30.010 from the Legislature's statute site; text is taken from a 2016 bill that quotes it (age range 7 to under 16 confirmed there and in secondary sources). Final outcome of 2026 correspondence-funding legislation not confirmed.

Current ASAA eligibility rules for independent (non-correspondence) homeschoolers and the part-time enrollment regulation were not verified from primary sources. No state agency homeschool page found.

Listed because a legal summary that hides its gaps is harder to trust than one that names them. How these pages are checked.

Statutes and sources

Statute and regulation

  • Alaska Stat. § 14.30.010
  • Alaska Stat. §§ 14.45.100-14.45.130
  • Alaska Stat. §§ 14.03.300-14.03.310
  • Alaska Stat. § 14.20.020

Statute text

State agency

Secondary sources