Homeschooling in Iowa

Q: Do I have to notify anyone to homeschool in Iowa?

No. None for IPI or CPI Option 2 without services. For CPI Option 1, or CPI Option 2 with dual enrollment/optional reporting: Form A to the school district of residence.

What the law requires, what you file and when, and what to keep — with the statute behind each rule.

no notice required 12 sources Verified 12 October 2026

What Iowa requires

Notify: None for IPI or CPI Option 2 without services. For CPI Option 1, or CPI Option 2 with dual enrollment/optional reporting: Form A to the school district of residence.
Testing or evaluation: Not required.
Subjects set by the state: Yes — 2 groups of required subjects, listed below
Teaching time: 148 days — in detail
Compulsory school age: 6 by Sept — in detail
Records: None required for IPI or non-reporting CPI.

Taking your child out of school in Iowa

First move: Notify the school in writing that the child is withdrawing to private instruction (IPI or CPI); if using an option that requires Form A, file it with the district (within 30 days of starting mid-year).

First-time CPI filers must give immunization proof (or exemption) and, for elementary age, a blood lead test.

The legal routes

5 routes exist in Iowa. They carry different duties, and families often do not know the alternatives to the obvious one.

Independent Private Instruction (IPI): No filing, testing, or teacher requirement. Must teach math, reading/language arts, science, and social studies, and give a short report (instructor, location, responsible person, students) only if the superintendent or state director asks in writing. Since May 2026 there is no cap on unrelated students and tuition may be charged. Public services limited to driver's ed, paid testing, and concurrent enrollment.
Competent Private Instruction (CPI) Option 2 - parent without a teaching license, no reporting: Parent teaches with no required filing or testing. Without filing, the family can still use driver's education, district/AEA testing, and concurrent enrollment, but not dual enrollment or open enrollment.
CPI Option 2 with reporting (annual assessment): File Form A by Sept. 1 (if starting mid-year, within 30 days; HSLDA advises a partial Form A within 14 days); at least 148 days; annual evaluation by May 31 with results to the district and Department of Education by Aug. 1. One way to qualify for dual enrollment (the other is filing Form A under the licensed-teacher option or an HSAP).
CPI Option 1 - licensed teacher supervision: Instruction by or supervised by an Iowa-licensed teacher (a licensed parent, or a privately hired supervising teacher who makes at least 2 contacts per 45 days of instruction, one of every two face-to-face); file Form A by Sept. 1; 148 days with 37 per quarter; no state annual assessment.
Home School Assistance Program (HSAP): A district-run (where offered) form of CPI Option 1 with a district teacher who contacts the family at least 4 times per 45 days of instruction (one of every two face-to-face); the program files the report; districts may add conditions such as testing.

The notice, and who receives it

None for IPI or CPI Option 2 without services. For CPI Option 1, or CPI Option 2 with dual enrollment/optional reporting: Form A to the school district of residence. Nothing has to be filed with any authority to begin.

Subjects Iowa requires

IPI: mathematics, reading and language arts, science, social studies (all grades)
CPI with assessment: reading, language arts, math (grades 1-5); plus science and social studies (grades 6-12)

See which courses here cover these subjects →

Compulsory school age

6 by Sept. 15 to 16 (a child enrolled in a district or accredited nonpublic school who turns 16 on or after Sept.

15 stays compulsory to year end); a 5-year-old enrolled in a district (or a 4-year-old in statewide preschool) is compulsory unless the parent gives written notice of withdrawal

Teaching time

IPI and non-reporting CPI Option 2: none specified. CPI Option 1/HSAP and CPI with reporting: at least 148 days per year (37 per quarter for licensed-teacher option).

Who may teach

None for IPI and CPI Option 2; CPI Option 1/HSAP requires instruction by or supervision from an Iowa-licensed teacher (a supervising teacher may serve up to 25 families/50 children).

Testing and evaluation

Only for CPI Option 2 families who report (needed for dual enrollment/services): annual evaluation by May 31 using an approved standardized test (above 30th percentile in required subjects and six months' progress or at grade level), a licensed-teacher portfolio review, or an accredited correspondence school report card. First evaluation (age 7 or first year) is a baseline.

Districts/AEAs test CPI students free on request; IPI families may request testing at their own cost. Failure to show progress requires enrolling in school unless a remediation plan is approved.

Deadline: Evaluation by May 31; results to district and Department of Education by August 1

Records to keep

None required for IPI or non-reporting CPI. Reporting CPI families submit a course outline or texts and evaluation results; portfolio evaluators review lesson plans/work samples.

High school, diplomas and transcripts

Since May 12, 2026 (HF 2754, Iowa Code 299A.13), parents/instructors may issue a diploma and transcript for CPI or IPI students; it must be accepted like a public/accredited school diploma for college admission, jobs, licensing, and state programs, and no HSE is required. Districts may, but need not, issue their own diploma to homeschoolers.

CPI and IPI students may use concurrent enrollment (community college courses) through the district.

Public school classes, sports and activities

CPI students who file Form A and request dual enrollment (HSLDA: by Sept. 15) may take district classes (not all but two periods of the day) and join extracurriculars, including sports, on the same basis as enrolled students.

IPI students cannot dual enroll; they may take driver's ed, paid testing, and concurrent enrollment only.

Funding: education savings accounts, vouchers and tax credits

Iowa Tuition and Textbook Credit: 25% of the first $2,000 per K-12 dependent ($500 max) for tuition and textbooks, explicitly including children in IPI or CPI. The Students First education savings account requires attending a nonpublic school, so independent homeschoolers are not eligible.

What changed recently

2026: HF 2754 (signed May 12, 2026; effective on enactment under its Sec. 101) removed IPI's 4-unrelated-student cap and tuition ban, created Iowa Code 299A.13 recognizing parent-issued homeschool diplomas/transcripts as equal to school diplomas (retroactive to earlier diplomas), let parents sign enrollment verifications (299A.14), and let Form A list either a course outline or texts.

2024-25 rule changes (effective July 17, 2024 and April 9, 2025): CPI/IPI concurrent enrollment no longer capped at 75% of the day; dual enrollment cannot cover all but one course; supervising-teacher caseload limit of 25 families/50 children; IPI families may buy annual testing through the district/AEA.

What we could not confirm

Regulation level 'none' reflects the no-notice options most families can use (IPI, non-reporting CPI); CPI with reporting is moderate. The Sept.

15 dual-enrollment request deadline comes from HSLDA and is not in Iowa Code 299A/299.4 or 281 IAC 31. Iowa DOE's Private Instruction Handbook was not reviewed. Iowa Code 2026 PDFs predate HF 2754, so current 299A.1 and 299.4 text reflects the enrolled bill.

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

Iowa Code § 299.1A
Iowa Code § 299.4
Iowa Code § 299A.1
Iowa Code § 299A.2
Iowa Code § 299A.3
Iowa Code § 299A.4
Iowa Code § 299A.6
Iowa Code § 299A.8
Iowa Code § 299A.13
Iowa Code § 299A.14
Iowa Code § 422.12(2)(b)
Iowa Admin. Code r. 281-31