Iowa asks for very little. Iowa is a light-touch state. There is something to file, and it is short. Below is exactly what, by when, and where it comes from in the code.

What you file, and by when

Depends entirely on which of four pathways you choose, Iowa is the most structurally complex state in this group. (1) Independent Private Instruction (IPI): no forms, no notice, no reporting, no district interaction. (2) Competent Private Instruction Option #2 with opt-out (no) reporting: no forms filed; parent is responsible for progress but reports to no one. (3) CPI Option #2 with dual enrollment or optional reporting, and (4) CPI Option #1 (supervised by a person holding a current Iowa teaching license, including a district Homeschool Assistance Program): must file Form A with the district of residence annually for each child, due September 1 (September 15 if participating in an HSAP). Form A is filed per child, per year, is a public document (with statutorily protected fields), and is retained by the district and AEA for five years. For IPI, the district may, on written request, ask only for the primary instructor's name, the location of instruction, the name of the authority responsible, and the names of students enrolled, nothing about curriculum or the four required subjects. Even where no notice is required, withdrawing in writing from an enrolled district is strongly advised to avoid a truancy referral.

Days or hours

CPI (both options): instruction on a daily basis for at least 148 days per school year, with at least 37 days in each school quarter (Iowa Code § 299A.1). IPI: no day or hour requirement, only compliance with compulsory education under Iowa Code ch. 299 (formal education through age 16; a student who turns 16 before Sept. 15 may stop that year, otherwise must finish the year in which they turn 16).

Subjects you must cover

IPI: mathematics, reading and language arts, science, and social studies are required by statute (Iowa Code § 299A.1(2)(b)), but the district is expressly forbidden from asking whether they are being taught. CPI: the Iowa DOE describes reading/language arts, mathematics, science and social studies as encouraged rather than strictly enumerated for the instructional program; the reporting subjects for adequate progress are reading/language arts and math (plus science in grades 5, 8, 10). Curriculum choice is entirely the family's; the Department neither reviews nor prescribes it.

Records you keep

No state-mandated portfolio or log for IPI or CPI Option #2 opt-out. For CPI families who file Form A, keep a copy of each year's Form A for each child; the district and AEA retain copies for five years. CPI Option #2 reporting families must keep whatever underlies their annual proof of adequate progress (assessment results, portfolio, or accredited-school transcript). All families should keep independent course, hour and grade records for transcripts, concurrent enrollment eligibility and college admission, the Iowa DOE explicitly does not maintain completion records and cannot verify high school completion.

Testing or evaluation

Only CPI Option #2 with reporting requires it. Those students in grades K-11 (or who have not turned 16 before Sept. 15 of their junior year) must show 'adequate annual progress' in reading/language arts and mathematics, plus science in grades 5, 8 and 10. Adequate annual progress = composite score at or above the 30th percentile on national norms, showing at least six months' gain from the prior evaluation, or at/above grade level for age (Iowa Code § 299A.6). Three acceptable methods: (a) a Department-approved standardized assessment, Iowa Test of Basic Skills Forms E/F (2017 norms), Terra Nova 3rd Ed. Forms C/D (2017 norms), Stanford Achievement Test 10th Ed. (2018 norms), or the ISASP; (b) a portfolio review by a person holding a current Iowa teaching license appropriate to the grade level; or (c) a report card/transcript from an accredited correspondence school. Assessment must be completed by May 31; results due to the district by August 1. Parents generally may not proctor the standardized test themselves unless the publisher qualifies them. CPI Option #1 students may test at no cost but are NOT required to, and results are not reported (an HSAP may impose testing as a local condition). IPI and CPI opt-out: no assessment required at all; IPI students may buy a test voluntarily through the AEA or an online provider and need not share results. Students past compulsory attendance age are exempt from proof of adequate progress.

Diplomas and transcripts

MAJOR 2026 CHANGE: House File 2754, signed May 12, 2026, gives homeschool diplomas explicit legal standing, diplomas, transcripts and credentials earned through CPI or IPI are legally sufficient proof of high school completion, state agencies may not discriminate based on the source of the diploma, Iowa colleges and universities must treat them as equivalent for admission, and the provision applies retroactively to prior graduates. The same act removed the four-unrelated-student cap and the no-tuition restriction on IPI (legalizing paid cottage schools, micro-schools and parent-led learning communities under IPI without triggering public school oversight), gave parents explicit authority to execute any document verifying their child's placement under CPI or IPI, and simplified Form A so that a family submits either an outline of the course of study OR a list of texts rather than both. Reporting on the 2026 act also indicates removal of immunization-proof and blood-lead-test documentation from CPI Form A filing. Beyond that: the Iowa DOE issues no diplomas and keeps no completion records; the family decides when the student has completed and may issue a certificate of completion. A DISTRICT diploma remains discretionary, begin discussions with the district in 8th grade; to receive one the student must meet all state and local graduation requirements (1/2 unit financial literacy, 1 unit PE, 3 units science, 3 units social studies including 1/2 unit U.S. government and 1 unit American history, 3 units mathematics, 4 units English language arts, plus a citizenship test at 60%+ beginning 2026-27; a unit = 120 hours of instruction). Awarding credit for homeschool coursework is a local decision even with an accredited curriculum. CPI students may dual-enroll for academics, activities and special education and access Senior Year Plus (concurrent enrollment, PSEO, AP, career academies); IPI students may take concurrent enrollment courses but are barred from other Senior Year Plus programs and may not dual-enroll. Iowa's Education Savings Account program became universal for the 2025-26 school year, but ESA funds require enrollment in an accredited nonpublic school, home-instructed students are not eligible. The Tuition and Textbook Tax Credit is available.

Where this comes from

Statute: Iowa Code ch. 299A (esp. §§ 299A.1(2)(b) & (c), 299A.2, 299A.3, 299A.6), Iowa Code ch. 299 (compulsory education); Iowa Admin. Code ch. 281-31 (esp. 31.4(2), 31.7(7), 31.8(2)); 2026 Iowa Acts, House File 2754 (signed May 12, 2026)

Source: https://educate.iowa.gov/pk-12/educational-choice/homeschooling

Last reviewed: July 2026 · our confidence in this entry: medium

Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes stale without announcing it. Check the statute above against your own reading before a filing deadline. If we are out of date, we would rather hear it from you than have you find out at the district office.

Keeping the records is the other half of this. Our Records System has the editable transcript with the GPA already wired, 131 course descriptions, and this same statute-cited summary for all fifty states and DC. Thirty-nine dollars, one household, however many children you have.