How to Homeschool in Mississippi (2026 Guide)

The short version

Mississippi is one of the least regulated homeschool states in the country. There is a single legal pathway, and the only affirmative step you are required to take each year is filing a Certificate of Enrollment with your local School Attendance Officer (SAO) by September 15. There are no state-mandated subjects, no curriculum review, no standardized testing requirement, no teacher certification requirement, and no portfolio submissions. The state statute explicitly prohibits Mississippi from controlling, managing, or supervising any home instruction program. If you have a child with a qualifying disability who has an active IEP, Mississippi also has an Education Scholarship Account (ESA) program — though participation requires the student to be enrolled in an eligible private school rather than a home instruction program.

Legal basis

Mississippi’s homeschool framework is built into a single statute: Miss. Code Ann. § 37-13-91, known as the Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law. Under § 37-13-91(3), a parent or guardian must cause a compulsory-school-age child to attend a public or legitimate nonpublic school — except in certain circumstances. One of those circumstances, spelled out in § 37-13-91(3)(c), is when “a compulsory-school-age child is being educated in a legitimate home instruction program.”

There is no separate homeschool statute. The entire framework for home-based education rests on this single exception to compulsory attendance.

Compulsory school age is defined in § 37-13-91(2)(f) as a child who has attained or will attain age six on or before September 1 of the calendar year and who has not attained age seventeen on or before September 1 of the same year. A child who enrolled in a full-day public kindergarten program is also considered compulsory-school-age until the child reaches age six, though a one-time withdrawal from that program is permitted.

“Legitimate home instruction program” is defined by exclusion in the statute: it means a program not operated or instituted for the purpose of avoiding or circumventing the compulsory attendance law (§ 37-13-91(3)). Mississippi law imposes no academic standards, no subject requirements, and no evaluations to establish legitimacy — the program simply must be a genuine educational effort rather than a sham.

The statute contains a strong non-interference clause at § 37-13-91(9): “it is not the intention of this section to impair the primary right and the obligation of the parent… to choose the proper education and training for such child, and nothing in this section shall ever be construed to grant, by implication or otherwise, to the State of Mississippi, any of its officers, agencies or subdivisions any right or authority to control, manage, supervise or make any suggestion as to the control, management or supervision of any… home instruction program.” This language is among the most explicit in the country limiting government oversight of home education.

Primary sources:

Notice of intent

Every family educating a compulsory-school-age child at home must complete a Home School Certificate of Enrollment each year and return it to the local School Attendance Officer (SAO) in the county where the child resides. This requirement flows from § 37-13-91(3)(c) and is documented on the Mississippi Department of Education’s homeschool page.

Key details:

Deadline: September 15 of each school year. Mississippi law does not allow enrollment for an upcoming school year until the current school year has ended, so families should submit as soon as the prior school year concludes if possible.
Annual renewal: This is not a one-time filing. A new Certificate of Enrollment must be submitted each year the child is homeschooled.
Form: Download the Home School Certificate of Enrollment form from the MDE homeschool page. Submit an original form signed in blue ink to your SAO. Contact your SAO by phone or email first to confirm the correct mailing address.
Who receives it: The School Attendance Officer for your county, not the school district superintendent. The MDE maintains an SAO contact list and regional directory on its website.
What happens if you miss the deadline: The statute provides that if a parent or guardian is found noncompliant, the SAO must provide written notice, and the parent has 10 days to come into compliance before being considered in violation. If a child was enrolled in a public school within 15 calendar days after the first day of the school year, the parent may later enroll the child in a home instruction program and file the Certificate of Enrollment to come into compliance (§ 37-13-91(3)).
Keep a copy: The MDE recommends retaining a copy of the enrollment form for your own records.

The state has no authority beyond receiving this annual filing. It cannot request curriculum outlines, instructional schedules, teacher qualifications, or any academic documentation from home instruction families. Section 37-13-91(9) is explicit on this point.

Required subjects

Mississippi law does not specify required subjects for home instruction families. The compulsory attendance statute contains no subject mandate, no minimum instructional hours, and no grade-level academic standards for homeschoolers.

The MDE does recommend — but does not require — that parents review the Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards (MCCRS) and consider aligning instruction with those benchmarks. The MDE’s stated rationale is purely practical: alignment with MCCRS will ease the transition if a child later returns to a public school. There is no legal obligation to follow or report on MCCRS, and the MDE has no authority to require it.

Parents design their own curriculum and set their own schedule. There are no approved curriculum lists, no minimum school day length, and no minimum number of instructional days established by state law for home instruction programs.

Standardized testing

Mississippi does not require homeschool students to take any standardized tests, state assessments, or other academic evaluations. There is no annual testing mandate, no portfolio submission requirement, and no achievement threshold a homeschool student must meet to remain in a home instruction program.

The MDE recommends — again, without legal force — that families maintain a portfolio that includes results of any national assessments the student takes. Many families choose to participate in nationally normed assessments for their own planning purposes, for college application documentation, or to satisfy the requirements of a cover school or co-op they have joined voluntarily. None of this is required by Mississippi law.

Record keeping

Mississippi law does not impose a standalone record-keeping mandate on home instruction families. There is no statute requiring home educators to maintain attendance logs, academic records, portfolios, or any other documentation.

The MDE does offer these non-binding recommendations for practical reasons:

Maintain a portfolio for each child containing samples of activities, assignments, projects, and assessments, along with a log of books and materials used and results of any national assessments taken.
Review MCCRS and document how instruction aligns with grade-level expectations, which can support placement decisions if the child re-enrolls in public school.
Contact potential colleges and universities ahead of the high school years to understand what admission documentation they require from homeschool graduates.

Practically speaking, keeping records of completed coursework, reading logs, and samples of student work can be valuable for college applications, dual enrollment, or professional certification. Mississippi does not issue a state-recognized diploma to homeschool graduates — the home instruction program itself issues any diploma.

Education Scholarship Account program

Mississippi has a targeted Education Scholarship Account (ESA) program created under the Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 37-181-1 et seq. (enacted 2015, most recently extended through July 1, 2028 by House Bill 679, 2024 Session). This program is administered by the MDE Office of Special Education (OSE).

Critical note for homeschool families: Participation in a home instruction program is not compatible with active participation in the ESA program. Miss. Code Ann. § 37-181-5(1)(d) requires parents, as a condition of ESA participation, to agree not to file a Certificate of Enrollment indicating participation in a home instruction program under § 37-13-91. Students participating in the ESA must be enrolled in an eligible state-accredited private school.

Who the ESA is designed for:

The ESA is for children with qualifying disabilities who have had an active Individualized Education Program (IEP) developed by a public school district within the past three years, and who are accepted by an eligible private school. The program is designed to allow these families to exit the public school system and receive state funds to help cover private school tuition and related educational expenses.

Award amounts:

For the 2025-2026 school year, the maximum reimbursement is $8,007 per student, calculated each spring by the OSE based on the Mississippi Student Funding Formula and available appropriations.
The program is funded by a $5 million annual appropriation (increased from $3 million by House Bill 42, 2025 Session). Due to limited total funding, eligible applicants may be placed on a waitlist.
The annual enrollment cap of 500 new students per year was removed in 2025, reducing waitlist pressure.

Eligible expenses under § 37-181-5(2):

Tuition and academic fees at an eligible private school
Textbooks related to academic coursework
Payment to a certified or licensed tutor (the tutor must hold state, regional, or national certification or licensure; parents may not receive reimbursement for tutoring their own child)
Nationally norm-referenced assessments and Advanced Placement exam fees
Curriculum and required supplemental materials
Educational services and therapies from a licensed or certified practitioner (speech therapy, occupational therapy, and similar services)
Dual enrollment tuition and fees for high school students at an accredited postsecondary institution
Up to $50 per year in consumable school supplies
Computer hardware, software, and technology devices, provided an eligible school or licensed professional certifies in writing that the item is essential for the student to meet IEP goals

How reimbursement works:

Funds are disbursed on a quarterly reimbursement cycle. Families pay approved expenses first and then submit a reimbursement request with documentation to the MDE OSE by each quarter’s deadline. Reimbursements are paid to the parent or directly to the educational service provider. Lump-sum payments are not permitted.

Application and eligibility:

Applications are available through the MDE ESA page and at local public school districts. Applications are reviewed within 21 business days of receipt. The best window to apply is December through May to allow time for processing before the school year begins, though applications are accepted year-round.

Required documentation includes the parent or guardian’s identification, a copy of the student’s most recent IEP developed by a public school, and a letter of acceptance from an eligible private school verifying the school can meet the student’s needs.

Once awarded, families do not reapply annually, but must complete a Recertification Form each year (available in the MDE parent portal from April 1 through April 30). Missing the recertification deadline results in loss of the scholarship.

Source: MDE Education Scholarship Account — Special Education; Miss. Code Ann. §§ 37-181-1 through 37-181-23.

Withdrawing from public school

Mississippi does not specify a mandatory withdrawal procedure in statute, but the MDE and the compulsory attendance framework create a practical sequence most families follow:

Decide to homeschool. The decision to begin a home instruction program may be made at any time during the school year, though the simplest transition point is between school years.
Notify the public school in writing that you are withdrawing your child. No exit interview or curriculum approval is legally required. Keep a copy of your written notification. The public school cannot refuse to withdraw the child.
File the Certificate of Enrollment with your local SAO. If you are beginning mid-year, submit the Certificate as soon as possible after withdrawing from public school. The statute allows late filers to come into compliance within 10 days of receiving written notice from the SAO (§ 37-13-91(3)).
Keep a copy of the completed Certificate of Enrollment for your records.

If your child has a current IEP: When a student exits the public school system to participate in a home instruction program, the school district’s IDEA obligations to that student end. Home instruction families are not entitled to the same special education services that public school students receive. If your child has an active IEP and you are considering withdrawing, speak with the school district’s special education coordinator before making the transition to understand what services, if any, may remain available.

Returning to public school: A family may re-enroll a child in public school at any time. The receiving school will determine grade placement. Organized records of completed coursework and a portfolio of student work can assist with the placement process, though no documentation is legally required for re-enrollment.

Support and community

Mississippi has an active homeschool community with statewide and regional networks.

Statewide organizations:

Mississippi Home Educators Association (MHEA) — statewide support organization listed as a resource by the MDE; provides community connections, co-op information, and legal awareness for homeschool families; referenced at mdek12.org/ocsa/home-school/
Homeschool Mississippi — statewide network with legal updates, legislative advocacy, and community events; homeschoolmississippi.com
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) — national legal membership organization providing representation and advocacy for homeschool families; hslda.org

Finding your School Attendance Officer:

Your SAO is the single government contact point for Mississippi homeschoolers. The MDE maintains an SAO contact list and regional directory on the homeschool page at mdek12.org/ocsa/home-school/.

Driver’s license and other practical matters:

Mississippi does not specify homeschool documentation requirements for driver’s licensing in the compulsory attendance statute. Contact the Mississippi Department of Public Safety for current documentation requirements for minor applicants who are homeschooled.

College admissions:

Home instruction families issue their own diplomas and transcripts. The MDE recommends contacting prospective colleges and universities early in the high school years to understand their specific documentation requirements for homeschool applicants. Many Mississippi public universities accept standardized test scores, portfolios, and parent-prepared transcripts from homeschool graduates.