My Learning Source Michigan › Homeschooling in Michigan › Michigan Homeschool Options — Exemption (f), Shared-Time Classes and Dual Enrollment

Michigan Homeschool Options — Exemption (f), Shared-Time Classes and Dual Enrollment

Michigan has no education savings account, voucher or tax-credit scholarship. Its constitution bars public money, directly or indirectly, from aiding nonpublic schools or paying for a student to attend one, and the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) says plainly that there are no public funds for homeschooling. What Michigan does have is a very light homeschool law. A parent can teach a child at home under exemption (f) of the compulsory attendance law with no notice, registration or testing, or can register the home school with MDE as a nonpublic school under exemption (a). Homeschooled students can also take part-time nonessential elective classes, such as art, music, physical education, world languages, STEM and career-tech, at a public school district. Many districts run these as "homeschool partnership" programs. The state pays the district, not the family, for those classes, and the district hires the teachers. Homeschoolers can also dual enroll in college courses if they enroll in at least one class at a public or registered nonpublic school.

Overseen by	Homeschooling under exemption (f) has no state oversight: MDE says it "plays no role" with these families, and local and intermediate school districts enforce the compulsory attendance law (MCL 380.1561). Home schools that register as nonpublic schools report to MDE. Shared-time classes are run by school districts under section 166b of the State School Aid Act (MCL 388.1766b) and MDE's Pupil Accounting Manual.
State program money	None for homeschooling. MDE says there are no public funds for home schooling and parents aren't paid to homeschool. When a district enrolls a homeschooled student in nonessential elective classes, the district counts the student part-time for state aid, never more than 0.75 of a full-time student. For 2026–27 the full-time foundation allowance is 0,300 per pupil. That money goes to the district, which uses it to run the classes. Families don't get a budget.
Homeschool notice required	No. Under exemption (f) there is no notice, registration or testing, and no teacher qualification beyond being the child's parent or legal guardian. MDE suggests telling your current school when you withdraw so your child isn't marked truant. Registering with MDE is voluntary, but MDE's guidance says to register if you want special education services, shared-time classes or dual enrollment.
Part-time public classes	Yes. Homeschooled students in grades K–12 may enroll in a district's nonessential elective courses, subject to the district's enrollment policy: for example art, music, physical education, world languages, computer science, career and technical education and AP courses. Core math, science, social studies and English courses, and remedial courses, are excluded (MCL 388.1766b(3)).
Testing	No required tests. Parents test based on their own curriculum. Homeschooled students may take Michigan's state assessments free at their local public school if they arrange it with the district, and their scores are reported individually, not in district results.
Dual enrollment	Available, but a homeschooled student must enroll in at least one class at a public or state-approved nonpublic school and dual enroll through that school to have college tuition and fees paid under the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act (MDE). A shared-time elective, including a career-tech class, can be that one class.

Two legal ways to homeschool in Michigan

Michigan requires children to attend public school from age 6 to 18, with exceptions (MCL 380.1561). The law was raised from 16 to 18 for children who turned 11 on or after December 1, 2009, or entered grade 6 in 2009 or later. Two of the exceptions cover homeschooling, and the law says a family may use either one, or both (MCL 380.1561(4)).

Exemption (f), home education: the child is educated at home by a parent or legal guardian "in an organized educational program in the subject areas of reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing, and English grammar." Under this option MDE plays no role, the family doesn't report to MDE, and there are no teacher qualifications except that the teacher must be the child's parent or legal guardian.

Exemption (a), nonpublic school: the child attends a state-approved nonpublic school that teaches subjects comparable to those in the local public schools. A home school operating this way is treated as a nonpublic school and reports to MDE. MDE's home school guide says a parent reporting to MDE must have at least a bachelor's degree to be approved, unless the parent claims a sincerely held religious belief against teacher certification, citing the Michigan Supreme Court's 1993 decision in People v DeJonge. Nonpublic schools teach mathematics, reading, English, science and social studies in all grades, plus the U.S. and Michigan constitutions and civil government in high school.

MDE draws a clear line on what counts as homeschooling. You can only homeschool your own children, in their home, as their parent or legal guardian, and you must teach all of the essential subjects yourself. A grandparent who isn't the legal guardian, or a parent teaching a neighbor's child, isn't homeschooling under the law. Splitting core subjects between home and a school doesn't qualify either. And a free online program that enrolls your child in a public school academy (a charter school) is public school, not homeschooling.

Why Michigan has no ESA, voucher or tax-credit scholarship

Article VIII, section 2 of the Michigan Constitution, as amended by a voter initiative approved November 3, 1970, says no public money, property or credit may be used "directly or indirectly to aid or maintain" any nonpublic school, and no "payment, credit, tax benefit, exemption or deductions, tuition voucher, subsidy, grant or loan of public monies" may support a student's attendance at one. In 1971 the Michigan Supreme Court struck down part of that language, the part reaching "any location or institution where instruction is offered in whole or in part" to nonpublic students (Traverse City School District v Attorney General). MDE's Pupil Accounting Manual cites that ruling, along with Snyder v Charlotte Schools (1984), as legal background for shared-time classes.

In 2021 the Legislature passed Senate Bills 687 and 688, which would have created Student Opportunity Scholarship accounts funded by donations that earned a state income tax credit. Governor Whitmer vetoed both bills on November 5, 2021. As of August 31, 2026, no school choice measure was on the Board of State Canvassers' list of statewide ballot petitions for 2025–26.

Federal tax credit: Michigan is not on the IRS list of states taking part in the new federal scholarship tax credit for 2027 (as of October 22, 2026). The credit, up to

,700 per taxpayer, is only available for gifts to scholarship organizations in states that opt in.

Shared-time classes and homeschool partnership programs

Shared time is the part-time enrollment of a homeschooled or nonpublic school student in a public school district's nonessential elective courses (MCL 388.1766b; Pupil Accounting Manual section 5-E). The student is enrolled part-time in the district and part-time in the home school. A district's nonessential electives that are offered to its own students must be open to resident homeschooled students on request, subject to the district's usual enrollment rules such as prerequisites and deadlines. The Michigan Supreme Court upheld shared time in Snyder v Charlotte Schools (1984).

Many districts package these classes for homeschool families as "homeschool partnership" or enrichment programs. They are public school classes, run by the district. In 2017 MDE told a House subcommittee that shared-time enrollment had grown from 6,850 full-time-equivalent students in 2011–12 to 15,500 in 2016–17.

What counts as nonessential: in grades 1–8, anything other than the math, science, social studies and English language arts courses the district requires for grade progression. In grades 9–12, anything other than algebra 1 and 2, English 9–12, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, economics, geography, American history, world history, the Constitution, government and civics, or courses that meet the same credit requirement. AP, IB and college-credit courses count as nonessential, as does kindergarten. Remedial courses in essential subjects don't. MDE has said STEM and STEAM courses can be nonessential electives.

How the money works: the district counts each shared-time student for state aid in proportion to the classes taken, never more than 0.75 of a full-time student (2026 PA 25, sec. 6(4)(ii)). The law also limits how fast a district's shared-time enrollment can grow. If shared-time students were at least 5% of a district's other enrollment the year before, shared-time enrollment can grow no more than 10% a year. Below 5%, it can't exceed the greater of 5% of other enrollment or 10% more than the year before (sec. 6(4)(ll)).

Budget status: the 2026–27 School Aid Act (House Bill 5630, signed July 21, 2026, 2026 PA 25) keeps shared-time funding on the same terms: the 0.75 cap and the growth limits are unchanged, and the House Fiscal Agency's summary of the final budget lists no change to section 166b. The 2026–27 foundation allowance rose to

0,300 per full-time pupil, from

0,050 in 2025–26.

Shared-time classes: what they can and can't cover

State aid is paid only if the class meets every requirement in section 166b and the Pupil Accounting Manual. In practice that means:

Nonessential electives only. Core subjects and remedial courses can't be taught to homeschoolers for state aid, and neither can English as a second language.
The same class must be offered to the district's full-time students of the same grade or age, and actually available to them, not just on paper. MDE says a district cannot create nonessential courses only for homeschooled or nonpublic students.
The course must be on the student's class schedule, with the same course length and grading as for full-time students. Extracurricular activities don't count.
No private lessons. Only courses and optional experiences offered to full-time students qualify.
Optional experiences tied to a course, such as field trips, must be offered on a schedule available to most of the district's full-time students in that grade.
A certified teacher of record, employed by the district, keeps daily attendance and is responsible for instruction and assessment.
Lunch and recess don't count toward class time. Up to 30 minutes a day of passing time between shared-time classes can.
Nothing is paid to families. State aid goes to the district for the classes it runs, and MDE says parents are not compensated for homeschooling. Homeschool families still buy their own curriculum and materials for core subjects, and districts don't have to provide textbooks to homeschoolers.
When MDE reviewed shared-time programs in 2017, it flagged questionable practices including private lessons, extracurricular programs, programs directed by the home school group, courses designed by an unendorsed third party, out-of-state programs and courses not available to all students.

For vendors: taking part

There is no statewide vendor list, approval or spending portal for homeschoolers in Michigan. Families who homeschool under exemption (f) or as a registered nonpublic school pay you directly with their own money, and they need no one's approval.

Shared-time and homeschool partnership classes are a different market: the district is your customer, not the family. Each district decides what electives it offers and who teaches them. Every course needs a teacher of record who is certified for the grade level (or working under an MDE substitute permit), is employed by the district, and is responsible for instruction, assessment and daily attendance. An instructor who isn't a certified district teacher can't be the teacher of record for a seated class. Virtual courses are the exception: under section 21f of the State School Aid Act, a district can use a third-party vendor that supplies a properly certified teacher of record.

Background checks: anyone who gives direct or indirect instruction in a shared-time course, including optional experiences, or has unsupervised contact with students, must go through the same criminal history and unprofessional-conduct checks as a district employee or contractor (MCL 380.1230 to 380.1230g, applied by MCL 388.1766b(2)(g)). The district must also make sure no one who has contact with students has been convicted of sexual misconduct.

To get involved, contact the district's homeschool partnership, enrichment or shared-time coordinator. Courses have to fit the rules above: a nonessential elective the district also offers its full-time students, at the same grade level, taught under a district teacher of record. Lessons for a single family, or a class designed and run by an outside group for homeschoolers only, don't qualify for state aid.

Listing on My Learning Source is separate from teaching for any district program — you don't need one to have the other, and families find you here either way.

Homeschooling in Michigan: the basics

No notice or registration under exemption (f). MDE suggests telling your current school, by phone or note, when you start homeschooling. Otherwise your child may be marked absent and the truancy officer may get involved.
Optional MDE registration: MDE posts a Homeschool Registration Form each year (the 2026–2027 form is linked below). MDE's guidance says registration is optional unless your child will receive public school services, such as special education, shared-time classes or dual enrollment, and that approval requires a bachelor's degree or a religious objection to teacher certification.
What to teach: under exemption (f), an organized program in reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing and English grammar. There is no required curriculum, no required number of days and no accreditation requirement.
Testing: none required. Homeschoolers may take state assessments at their local public school by arrangement with the district.
Records: no law requires homeschool records, and MDE doesn't collect student data from parents. MDE encourages keeping progress records, because a school your child later enrolls in decides grade placement and which credits to accept.
Diplomas: the parent issues report cards, transcripts and the diploma. Michigan Merit Curriculum graduation requirements apply only to public schools, not to home schools.
Special education: a homeschooled child doesn't get an IEP but may receive some services, such as speech therapy, through a Nonpublic School Services Plan. The public district where the child lives handles evaluation through Child Find. Services are set through consultation and limited by the share of special education funds districts must set aside for nonpublic students, so they may be less than a public school student would get. MDE's guidance says to register with MDE first.
Online courses: under Michigan law, homeschooled students can take Michigan Virtual courses to the same extent as district courses. If your district subscribes to Michigan Virtual School, a resident homeschooler can use those services for no more than a district student pays (2026 PA 25, sec. 98(7)).
Work permits: homeschooled students get work permits through their local public school.

Other Michigan programs: college aid, dual enrollment, sports and driver's ed

Michigan Achievement Scholarship (2026–27): MI Student Aid says students who graduated in 2023 or later can get up to $5,500 a year for up to five years (

7,500) at a Michigan public university, private college or community college bachelor's program if their Student Aid Index is 30,000 or less. The Community College Guarantee covers in-district tuition and mandatory fees with no income limit, plus a

,000 bonus for Pell-eligible students. The Michigan Achievement Skills Scholarship pays up to

,000 a year for up to two years for career training. Students must file the FAFSA, have lived in Michigan since July 1 of the previous year, enroll full time and start within 15 months of graduating. Homeschooled students may be eligible if the college accepts their home-school documents as proof of high school completion.

Dual enrollment: under the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act (1996 PA 160) and the Career and Technical Preparation Act (2000 PA 258), eligible high school students can take college courses with eligible charges (tuition and mandatory course, material and registration fees, not transportation, parking or activity fees) paid. A homeschooled student must enroll in at least one class at a public or state-approved nonpublic school and dual enroll through that school (MDE). Courses must earn college credit, can't be hobby, craft, recreational, physical education or religion courses, and can't be offered by the student's school. For English and math, the student needs a qualifying score on an approved readiness test. Unless the district and college agree otherwise, there are limits of 10 courses overall and a set number per year depending on the grade when the student starts. A student who doesn't finish a course must repay the district, except for a family or medical emergency.

Sports: MHSAA rules treat homeschooled students like any other transfer student. To play on a school team, a student must be enrolled at that school and taking and passing at least 66% of a full-time student's course load there, generally 4 of 5 or 6 classes or 5 of 7. Most homeschooled students haven't played for a school team, so they are likely eligible under the transfer rule once enrolled at that level. Local school boards can set stricter rules. Homeschool groups can also run their own teams.

Driver's education: every Michigan teen under 18 must complete Segment 1 and Segment 2 driver education with a state-certified driver education provider as part of Graduated Driver Licensing. Segment 1 enrollment opens at 14 years 8 months. The Department of State's page lists no parent-taught option. Homeschooled students take the same route as everyone else.

Special education for home school students

Registering first: the House Fiscal Agency reported in 2017 that, according to MDE, annual reporting by home school families is voluntary except when a homeschooled student is requesting eligible special education services from the local public school or intermediate school district (ISD). MDE's current guidance, described above, still ties services to registering with MDE. Register before you ask for services.

Evaluations: Michigan's special education rules (MARSE) set timelines for a student whose parents have placed them in a private school. After your written request for an initial evaluation, the district has 10 school days to give you written notice and, when appropriate, ask for your written consent. Within 30 school days of receiving your consent, it must decide eligibility and give you notice. You and the district can agree to extend this, but only in writing and measured in school days. The rule also requires the district to follow the federal rules for private school children, 34 CFR 300.130 to 300.147 (R 340.1721b(2)). Ask your district whether it applies these timelines to your registered home school.

IEPs vs services plans: if you enroll your child in public school, the district must, after your consent, give notice of an offer of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) or of ineligibility within 30 school days. It must then start the IEP as soon as possible and within 15 school days of your written consent to services, unless the IEP clearly names a later date you both agreed to (R 340.1721b(1)). For a home school student, MDE's services plan, described in the basics section above, takes the place of an IEP.

Auxiliary services: Michigan law says a district that provides auxiliary services to its resident pupils must provide the same services on an equal basis to pupils at nonpublic schools. The list includes health and nursing services, speech and language services, school social work, school psychological services, remedial reading, and teacher consultant and other ancillary services for students with a disability (MCL 380.1296). The statute speaks of nonpublic schools and doesn't mention home schools, so ask your district whether it treats your MDE-registered home school as a nonpublic school for these services.

Shared time: Michigan's shared-time law covers only nonessential elective courses, and it doesn't mention special education or services for students with disabilities (MCL 388.1766b). If your child has a disability and takes shared-time classes, ask the district in writing which supports it will provide in those classes and whether any other services are available.

Which home schools count: Michigan law lets a parent teaching at home use exemption (a), the state-approved nonpublic school route, exemption (f), or both (MCL 380.1561(4)). A Muskegon Area ISD handout reprints MDE's July 1996 questions and answers, which say a home school operating solely under exemption (a) and following the Nonpublic School Act is considered a nonpublic school, and one operating solely under exemption (f) is not. Montcalm Area ISD's home school information says students operating solely under exemption (f) are not entitled to auxiliary and special education services, but may be tested for special needs at the local public school district. Kent ISD says its services to nonpublic schools include registered home schools. These are ISD statements, not state rules, so ask your district and ISD how they treat your home school.

Child find: federal rules require each district to locate, identify and evaluate children with disabilities whose parents enrolled them in private schools in the district, using activities similar to those it uses for public school children (34 CFR 300.131). The process must be finished in a time comparable to that for public school students, and the cost of evaluations can't be counted toward the money the district must spend on private school children. Marquette-Alger RESA's ISD plan (approved October 14, 2025) lists home-schooled children among those its districts' child find policies must cover. It says the district where the nonpublic school is located has the child find duty for nonpublic students, including registered homeschools.

No individual right: under federal rules, a child placed in a private school by the parents has no individual right to receive some or all of the special education and related services the child would get in public school (34 CFR 300.137(a)). The child may receive a different amount of services than children with disabilities in public schools (34 CFR 300.138(a)(2)). The district makes the final decisions about which services it will provide (34 CFR 300.137(b)(2)).

The services plan: for each private school child the district designates to receive services, it must have a services plan that describes the specific special education and related services the district will provide (34 CFR 300.132(b), 300.138(b)). The district must start and run the meetings to develop, review and revise the plan (34 CFR 300.137(c)). To the extent appropriate, the plan meets the IEP content rules and is developed and revised the way an IEP is (34 CFR 300.138(b)(2)). Services are provided by public agency employees or by people the agency contracts with, and services and materials must be secular, neutral and nonideological (34 CFR 300.138(c)).

Consultation and funding: districts must consult with private school representatives and with representatives of parents of these children about child find, the proportionate share of federal funds, and how, where and by whom services will be provided, including how services will be divided if funds can't serve every child (34 CFR 300.134). Each district counts these children on a date between October 1 and December 1, and that count sets what it must spend on them in the next fiscal year (34 CFR 300.133(c)). Michigan's auxiliary services rules also require a district that provides those services to tell each nonpublic school in writing, by April 1, what services are in its proposed budget. The nonpublic school answers in writing within 30 days, and the district confirms by August 1 (R 340.293). Ask your district whether it includes registered home school families in these meetings and notices.

Where services happen: federal rules allow services on the premises of a private school, to the extent consistent with law (34 CFR 300.139(a)). If your child needs transportation to benefit from or take part in services at another site, the district must provide it from the child's school or home to that site, and back to the school or home. It doesn't have to provide transportation from home to the private school (34 CFR 300.139(b)). Michigan's auxiliary services rules say services on an equal basis are made available at the nonpublic school during the regular public school day (R 340.291(c)). None of these rules mention home schools, so ask where services will be delivered and whether transportation is included before you agree to the plan.

If you disagree: under federal rules, due process hearings don't apply to complaints that a district failed to provide private school services, including the services in a services plan (34 CFR 300.140(a)). They do apply to child find complaints, including evaluations. Those are filed with the district where the private school is located, with a copy sent to the state (34 CFR 300.140(b)). Other complaints about private school services go through the state complaint process (34 CFR 300.140(c)). In Michigan, you file a state complaint with MDE's Office of Special Education within 1 year of the alleged violation, and deliver it to that office and the district by mail, in person or electronically (R 340.1851).

IEP or services plan: Charlevoix-Emmet ISD tells parents to contact their local school administrator to schedule an evaluation. Once the evaluation is done, an IEP is offered, and parents of registered nonpublic and home schools who decline an IEP may be offered a Nonpublic Service Plan to see whether services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, social work or a teacher consultant are appropriate. Kent ISD says an eligible nonpublic student who lives in the district gets an offer of an IEP or a service plan from the resident public district, and nonpublic preschool students are served by the resident district.

Official sources

My Learning Source is an independent marketplace. We are not affiliated with the Michigan Department of Education, MI Student Aid, the MHSAA or any Michigan school district, intermediate school district or public school academy, and a listing here does not mean a vendor teaches for or is approved by any district program. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

As of October 2026.

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