Homeschooling in Colorado
What the law requires, what you file and when, and what to keep — with the statute behind each rule.
What Colorado requires
- Notify
- Any Colorado public school district (CDE advises also notifying your district of residence if you file elsewhere, to avoid truancy action). The state Department of Education does not collect notices. — 14 days before starting the home-based program, then annually while it continues (annual)
- Testing or evaluation
- Required. In grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11: either a nationally standardized achievement test or an evaluation by a qualified person (licensed teacher, independent/parochial school teacher, licensed psychologist, or someone with a graduate degree in education), at the parent's expense.
- Subjects set by the state
- Yes — 9 required subjects, listed below
- Teaching time
- 172 days — in detail
- Compulsory school age
- 6 to under 17 — in detail
- Records
- Keep permanently: attendance, test and evaluation results, and immunization records.
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 Colorado
First move: File the notice of intent with a school district at least 14 days before starting the home-based program, and notify the current school of the withdrawal.
A child who was habitually truant in the last six months of school attendance may start only if the parent also submits a written curriculum description with the notice.
The legal routes
3 routes exist in Colorado. They carry different duties, and families often do not know the alternatives to the obvious one.
- Nonpublic home-based educational program (C.R.S. § 22-33-104.5)
- Parent (or a parent-designated adult relative) teaches at home after filing a notice of intent with a Colorado school district 14 days before starting and every year after. Requires 172 days, set subjects, and testing or evaluation in grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11.
- Enrollment in an independent or parochial school (umbrella school)
- Enroll in a private (independent or parochial) school that supports home instruction; the school's own requirements apply instead of the home-based program rules.
- Instruction by a licensed teacher
- If the instructor (parent or designee) holds a valid Colorado teaching license, the child is exempt with no notice, testing or other home-based program requirements (per HSLDA; C.R.S. § 22-33-104 text not read).
The notice, and who receives it
- Goes to
- Any Colorado public school district (CDE advises also notifying your district of residence if you file elsewhere, to avoid truancy action). The state Department of Education does not collect notices.
- Deadline
- 14 days before starting the home-based program, then annually while it continues
- Renews
- annual
- Form
- Notice of Intent to Homeschool (sample template from CDE; families are not required to use it). Must list each child's name, age, residence and hours of attendance. — official form
Subjects Colorado requires
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking
- Mathematics
- History
- Civics
- Literature
- Science
- U.S. Constitution
Compulsory school age
6 (by August 1) to under 17; home-based education notice is not required before age 6 or after age 16
Teaching time
At least 172 days per year, averaging 4 instructional contact hours per day
Who may teach
None for the parent or designated adult relative.
Testing and evaluation
In grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11: either a nationally standardized achievement test or an evaluation by a qualified person (licensed teacher, independent/parochial school teacher, licensed psychologist, or someone with a graduate degree in education), at the parent's expense. A composite score at or below the 13th percentile (or an evaluation showing insufficient progress) requires enrolling the child in a public, independent or parochial school until the next testing period; the child may first be retested with an alternate form or another state-approved test.
Deadline: Results go to the district that received the notice, or to a Colorado independent or parochial school (whose name is given to the district); statute sets no specific date.
Records to keep
Keep permanently: attendance, test and evaluation results, and immunization records. The district may require them only with probable cause of noncompliance and 14 days' written notice.
High school, diplomas and transcripts
Parent issues the diploma; there is no state homeschool diploma, and homeschool programs are not accredited by the state or districts. Districts must accept home-based program transcripts for credit unless placement testing does not verify them.
Public school classes, sports and activities
Homeschoolers have the same right as enrolled students to participate in extracurricular and interscholastic activities on an equal basis, through the district that received the notice; course enrollment cannot be required except for course-linked activities. Part-time enrollment in public school programs is available where districts, charter schools or BOCES offer part-time homeschool programs (rules updated by SB26-023).
Funding: education savings accounts, vouchers and tax credits
None known for homeschoolers (CDE: 'there is no funding available'). Districts receive funding for part-time homeschool program students, so those programs are free to families.
What changed recently
SB26-023 (2026 School Finance Act, signed May 28, 2026) set new conditions for districts, charter schools and BOCES offering part-time programs for homeschool students; CDE's 2026-27 review approved only a few out-of-district programs, and 37 were denied because ERBOCES dissolved, so some families' part-time programs may have changed. Core home-based education rules are unchanged.
What we could not confirm
Could not fetch the compulsory attendance statute (C.R.S. § 22-33-104), so the 6-to-under-17 age range and the licensed-teacher and independent/parochial school exemptions are not confirmed from primary text this session. Specific SB26-023 conditions for part-time homeschool programs were not read.
No secondary-source (HSLDA/CRHE) cross-check was possible because the web search budget ran out.
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
- C.R.S. § 22-33-104.5
- C.R.S. § 22-33-104
- C.R.S. § 22-1-108
- SB26-023 (2026 School Finance Act)