Homeschool Requirements in Louisiana
Louisiana asks for more than most places do. There is more of it here than in most states, and the dates do not move. It is all doable once it is written down in one place, and that is what this page is. Read the deadlines first; the rest can wait until you have them in a calendar.
What you file, and by when
Two distinct legal routes with different filings. (1) BESE-approved home study program: apply to BESE through the Louisiana Department of Education. La. R.S. 17:236.1(A) requires that “an initial application must be made within fifteen days after commencement of the program” and that “a renewal application must be made by the first of October of the school year, or within twelve months of approval of the initial application, whichever is later”, and LDOE adds “or when the student is ready to advance to the next grade level.” Approvals are valid for one year from the date of approval for the grade level on the application. BESE notifies the local superintendent of the application and of subsequent action, so no parent-to-district filing is needed on this route. The application asks students who are 11 years old to indicate one of three options on meningococcal immunization status: proof of immunization, non-immunization for religious or other personal reasons, or a written statement from a physician that immunization is contraindicated. (2) Registered nonpublic school not seeking state approval: this is now an annual online submission, not a signed letter. LDOE requires such schools to submit enrollment information annually through the online attendance submission form, reporting total attendance as of the thirtieth day of the school term under R.S. 17:232(C). The information collected is the school name and address, the school leader’s name, total student enrollment, and an assurance statement, and the confirmation letter is valid for one year from its date. Separately, under R.S. 17:221.3 the nonpublic school must give written notice of enrollment to the student’s prior public school within ten days of the enrollment, with at minimum the student’s legal name, date of birth, gender and race; a transcript request can serve. Note that the ten days runs from enrollment in the new school, not from withdrawal from the old one. This route forfeits the benefits of BESE approval: LDOE states these students are not eligible for TOPS, cannot participate in the LA GATOR Scholarship Program, and do not receive a diploma carrying the same weight as a state-issued diploma, and that attending a nonpublic school not seeking state approval does not itself confirm that students are meeting compulsory attendance law.
Days or hours
LDOE states 180 days for both routes, and warns that a child aged 5 through 18 who is not enrolled in a public or nonpublic school and not in a BESE-approved home study program for at least 180 days in the school year puts the parent at risk of violating the compulsory attendance law. The statutory picture is less tidy than that. R.S. 17:236(A) sets a minimum session of not less than 180 days, but 17:236(B) provides that from the 2005-2006 school year the 180-day requirement “shall not be applicable” and lets BESE set the minimum session by rule instead. So plan on 180 days as the operative standard, but do not treat it as a live statutory command. There is no daily hour or minute figure published for either route.
Meeting those hours and turning them into credits are two different jobs. How to count a high school credit when you never used a textbook.
Subjects you must cover
Home study: a curriculum of quality at least equal to that offered by public schools at the same grade level (R.S. 17:236.1(B), (C)(1)). LDOE says parents have complete control over selecting the curriculum, and there are no teaching certification requirements for the parent or tutor. Two statewide content mandates do reach all schools, not just public ones: R.S. 17:268 requires the Declaration of Independence as a course of study in all elementary schools and the Federalist Papers in all high schools throughout the state, though LDOE’s home study guidance never asks about either. The Civics and Free Enterprise graduation prerequisite in R.S. 17:274.1(A) applies to public high schools only and does not reach home study. No mandated subject list applies to the nonpublic-school-not-seeking-approval route beyond the general nonpublic school standards.
Records you keep
Home study route: maintain evidence that the program “has in fact offered a sustained curriculum of quality at least equal to that offered by public schools at the same grade level” (R.S. 17:236.1(C)(1)), retained for the annual renewal. The statute lists the kinds of documents that count: a complete outline of each subject taught during the previous year, lists of books and materials used, copies of the student’s work, copies of standardized tests, statements by third parties who have observed the child’s progress, and any other evidence of the quality of the program. Nonpublic-school route: LDOE requires schools to maintain student attendance records. LDOE does not approve, oversee, or maintain a student’s educational records on this route, so if a college, employer, military branch or other third party asks for proof of education, the parent as administrator supplies it. The school must also state, on request from the local public school system, whether a given student is enrolled and whether that student is fulfilling compulsory attendance requirements.
Those are the pages underneath the transcript rather than the transcript itself. The Records Pack has the attendance and hours log and the portfolio index as editable forms.
Testing or evaluation
No mandatory standardized test on either route. LDOE states that state testing is not required for BESE-approved home study programs, and that students on the nonpublic route are not required to take state testing, though 4th and 8th grade LEAP is available on request through the local school system. What the BESE home study renewal requires is documentation of sustained quality, and a family only has to document one of three options: (1) a curriculum packet, meaning a subject outline, book list, a third-party statement from someone who has observed the child’s progress, one or two pages of student work per core subject, and a report card or copies of standardized tests; (2) verification that the child has taken a standardized examination and scored at or above grade level, or that the child has progressed at a rate equal to one grade level for each year in the home study program; or (3) a statement from a teacher certified at the child’s grade level. LDOE lists iLEAP, LEAP, End of Course exams, ACT, the California Achievement Test, Stanford, ITBS and SAT as acceptable instruments. R.S. 17:236.1(D)(1) also allows the competency-based education examination under R.S. 17:24.4. The one-grade-level-per-year alternative matters for a child who tests below nominal grade.
Diplomas and transcripts
Louisiana is one of the few states with statutory recognition of a homeschool diploma. R.S. 17:236.1(G), added by Acts 2010, No. 677, provides that a high school diploma awarded by a BESE-approved home study program “shall be deemed by all public postsecondary educational institutions, all state departments, agencies, boards, and commissions, and all other state and local governmental entities to have all of the rights and privileges afforded to a high school diploma awarded by a state-approved nonpublic school.” The parent issues the diploma, and LDOE warns that reproducing state seals or wording implying issuance by BESE or LDOE is unauthorized. TOPS: LDOE states that to be eligible for the TOPS scholarship a student must be enrolled in a BESE-approved home study program for both 11th and 12th grade, and a student who previously attended a Louisiana public or nonpublic high school, or an approved out-of-state high school, must have that school certify good standing at the time of last attendance on letterhead signed by the principal or headmaster. TOPS is administered by the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance, not LDOE, so confirm current rules there. Keep a detailed 9-12 transcript with course titles, credits, and grades. LA GATOR: the ESA launched for 2025-26 under R.S. 17:4037.1 et seq. (Act 1 of 2024). Applicants must attest that the student will not participate concurrently with a BESE-approved home study program or with a home study program registered with LDOE as a nonpublic school not seeking state approval, and must disenroll from LA GATOR immediately on enrolling in a public school or a home study program. R.S. 17:236(A) now provides that solely for purposes of compulsory attendance a child is considered in attendance at a day school while participating in LA GATOR. This materially changes compliance posture, so verify current LDOE guidance before enrolling. Compulsory attendance under R.S. 17:221(A)(1)(b) covers a child who is age five by September 30 of the calendar year in which the school year begins, through age eighteen, with a kindergarten deferral option.
A diploma you signed yourself gets read against the transcript behind it. What a college actually does with a homeschool transcript.
Where this comes from
Statute: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:236.1 (BESE-approved home study program; 15-day initial application; October 1 renewal; renewal evidence; § 17:236.1(G) diploma recognition, added by Acts 2010, No. 677); § 17:236 (definition of a school; 180-day session in (A), made inapplicable by (B); LA GATOR attendance provision added by Acts 2024, No. 1); § 17:221 (compulsory attendance, age five through eighteen); § 17:221.3 and § 17:232(C) (nonpublic school enrollment notice within ten days of enrollment; attendance report as of the 30th day); § 17:268 (Declaration of Independence, elementary; Federalist Papers, high school); § 17:274.1 (Civics and Free Enterprise, public high schools only); La. Admin. Code tit. 28, Pt. LXXIX (BESE Bulletin 741 Nonpublic); § 17:5001 et seq. (TOPS); LA GATOR Scholarship Program, § 17:4037.1 et seq. (Act 1 of 2024).
Last reviewed: July 2026, on the 26th.
Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes stale without saying so. Before a filing deadline, read the statute above for yourself. If we are behind, we would rather hear it from you than have you find out at the district office.
All fifty states and DC, each with its statute cited.
Filing is one half of it. Keeping the records is the other, and that is what our Records System is for: 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.