Homeschooling rates surge across US following COVID-19 pandemic, report finds

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A new report reveals that traditional schooling is declining, and homeschooling is growing across the United States, four years following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy’s Homeschool Research Lab collected data from state departments of education for the 2023-2024 academic year. The report noted that only 30 states keep track of their homeschooling participation numbers.

According to the lab, 90% of the states reported increases in homeschooling for the new year. Only two states (Vermont and New Hampshire) showed a decline in homeschooling, but the researchers added that the decline in New Hampshire may not have actually reflected a drop in homeschooling.

In some cases, the increases were small. For example, Georgia saw a 2% increase in homeschooling, while Delaware’s was much higher at 29%.

FILE: Student is homeschooled. (Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

While homeschooling grew rapidly during the pandemic, most people thought that students would return to more traditional schools when the pandemic disruptions abated. While some states did show a decline, the research team found that only few have returned to normal, even four years after the onset of the pandemic.

Three states (Louisiana, South Carolina and South Dakota) showed continued growth, meaning that there was no post-pandemic decline.

Meanwhile, the other 16 states showed a rebounding trend, meaning that there was a slight post-pandemic decline, and then, in 2023-2024, the number of homeschoolers increased again.

According to the lab, this means that the most recent increases in state-reported homeschool participation is something new – not driven by the pandemic.

"While there is a clear growth trend in homeschooling, the reason for that growth is unknown," the report stated. "What is clear is that this time, the growth is not driven by a global pandemic or sudden disruptions to traditional schooling. Something else is driving this growth."

The researchers said it’s important to note that the overall number of U.S. students is declining due in part to declining birth rates. In other words, ultimately we see that the number of homeschooled students is going up as the total number of U.S. students in going down.

Kindergarten enrollment continues to lag

Last year, an analysis by The Associated Press found that kindergarten enrollment continued to lag with enrollment remaining down 5.2% in the 2022-2023 school year compared with the 2019-2020 school year.

For some parents, kindergarten is simply no longer the assumed first step in a child's formal education, another sign of the way the pandemic and online learning has upended the U.S. school system.

But some experts say kindergarten is considered a crucial year for children to learn to follow directions, regulate behavior and get accustomed to learning. Deborah Stipek, a former dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, said missing that year of school can put kids at a disadvantage, especially those from low-income families and families whose first language is not English.