In the summer of 2024, HSLDA surveyed thousands of homeschooling families across
the country in order to provide a more up-to-date cost estimate for parents homeschooling
or those considering homeschooling. Such estimates have been made in the past, but with
recent inflation, many of them are now out-of-date.
We know parents are often concerned about whether they can afford to leave the public
school system behind—nearly half of parents in a 2021 survey said the financial burden of
homeschooling is moderately to extremely problematic for their family.[1]
So we hope this
information serves to inform and inspire confidence as parents make critical decisions about
homeschooling.
Our survey findings indicate that homeschooling costs significantly less per child than
public and private school tuition. Below, we explain how we arrived at this conclusion.
About the survey
More than 4,000 homeschooling families from all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto
Rico responded to the survey, so the sample is representative of the country. And while the
sample included HSLDA members and former members, it also included families who have
never been members.
We asked the families how many children they are currently homeschooling in elementary
school and in middle or high school, and then to estimate the annual cost of homeschooling
each child. We asked them to include curriculum, supplies and printing, annual co-op or
organization fees, tuition for online classes, transportation, music lessons, art classes,
sports, and tutoring in the estimate. We also asked what state they live in and whether they
reside in a rural, suburban, or urban community.
The families who responded had an average of about two students being homeschooled in
their household. Of those students, 60 percent were in elementary school, and the remaining
40 percent were in middle or high school.
What we found
Looking at the information provided by the families surveyed, we found it costs an average of $1,295 to homeschool an elementary school student in 2024. That number goes up to
$1,636 for students in middle and high school. Those averages tend to be lower in rural areas
and higher in urban and suburban areas (for elementary, middle, and high school students).
But the average in all categories is well below $2,000.
Furthermore, because the responding families had an average of about two students in the
household, the total estimated costs per family would have been about $3,104, an estimate
that we hope will help many prospective families decide whether homeschooling is a viable
alternative for educating their children.
For reference, the average tuition at a private school in 2020–2021 was around $9,000
for elementary school students and $15,000 for middle and high school students.[2]
And the
national average cost of public school expenditures per student hovers around $18,000.[3]
Homeschooling is therefore generally a fraction of the cost of either private school tuition or
public school expenditures.
The lower cost is due in part to the fact that the costs of homeschooling do not need to
include teacher salaries or building maintenance. Families must still shoulder the cost
of homeschooling themselves, which isn’t the case with public school. However it’s typically less expensive if you live in a rural area and most expensive if you live in the suburbs.
Additionally, homeschooling an elementary school
student costs a few hundred dollars less than homeschooling a student in middle or high school.
We know these average costs may still be too high
for some families. Where this is the case, parents should understand that these are only
average costs. Many of the families who took this survey actually spent much less than the
average amounts, while some spent significantly more.
For example, most of the surveyed families spent around just $500 a year to homeschool elementary students—$800 less than the average. And many families who homeschooled upper-grade students also kept their costs at $500 a year, which is $1,100 less
than average.
Regardless of whether they spend less than average, more than average, or somewhere
in between, it is probably always going to cost significantly less to homeschool a
student compared to the cost of tuition at a private school. It is also significantly less than
the stated average cost of public school tuition.
However, as has already been mentioned, the majority of public
school costs are paid for by government tax money. This leaves
parents shouldering an additional financial burden when choosing
to homeschool. HSLDA is working to pass tax breaks for homeschooling families so they can keep more of their own funds.
We hope that these findings help inform parents and
lawmakers alike.
ENDNOTES
[2]
National Center for Education Statistics, “Table 205.50, Private elementary and secondary enrollment, number of schools, and average
tuition, by school level, orientation, and tuition: Selected school years, 1999-2000 through 2020-21” Digest of Education Statistics: 2023,
U.S Department of Education, 2023. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_205.50.asp.
[3]
National Center for Education Statistics, “Table 236.60 Total and current expenditures per pupil in fall enrollment in public elementary
and secondary schools, by function and subfunction: Selected school years, 1990-91 through 2020-21,” Digest of Education Statistics: 2023,
U.S. Department of Education, 2023, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_236.60.asp.
