Homeschool grants and government money: what exists and what doesn't

Which states have money a homeschool family can use?

From each state's record. A star means taking the money changes your homeschool status: you sign the program's contract instead of, or as well as, filing as a homeschool. Each state's page says what the money buys and what it asks.

Where is homeschooling left out?

In Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio and Wisconsin, the record says the state's program does not cover home education as the law defines it. Read the state's page: a family can sometimes use the program by enrolling somewhere else.

Which states give a tax credit or deduction?

• Idaho: Idaho has a refundable state income tax credit, not an account: up to $5,000 per eligible student aged 5 to 18, for qualified expenses including textbooks, curricula, tutoring, nationally standardized tests and nonpublic school tuition. The law says home schooling does not count as public school enrollment, but the credit cannot be claimed for tuition or fees for instruction the parent gives. Parents apply to the State Tax Commission each year starting January 15; a cap of $50 million applies, and a one-time advance payment is available to some lower-income households.
• Iowa: Iowa Code 422.12 gives an income tax credit of twenty-five percent of the first two thousand dollars paid for each K-12 dependent, for tuition and textbooks of a dependent receiving private instruction, as printed in the 2026 Code.
• Minnesota: The department says Minnesota offers a dollar-for-dollar income tax credit for qualified low-income families and an education cost subtraction for many other families for up to $2650 in expenses; the Department of Revenue has the details.
• Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit law gives a credit of up to $1,000 in qualified expenses per student each tax year for a student educated under the other means of education exception in 70 O.S. 10-105. Qualified expenses are tuition and fees for nonpublic learning programs, tutoring, textbooks, curriculum and instructional materials, and fees for nationally standardized assessments. The credit is refundable, receipts are required, and for tax year 2026 and later all such credits together are capped at $5,000,000 with a percentage reduction if claims exceed the cap.

What about federal money?

• The federal scholarship tax credit starts in 2027, in states that opt in. The IRS listed 30 states "as of 22 October 2026". Whether a scholarship can pay homeschool costs depends on the state; the federal tax credit page has the detail.
• 529 plans: the IRS ties the K-12 use to "enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school". Whether a homeschool counts depends on how your state classifies it; 529 plans and homeschool reads the statute.
• Neither is a grant paid to a family. A site that offers a federal homeschool grant is worth checking twice.

What about private grants?

Some groups and companies offer grants or scholarships. We have not checked any, so we list none: read the rules on the group's own page, and never pay a fee to apply.

Keep the receipts

An account or credit program may ask for proof of what was bought; its own rules say what. The free spending log keeps each cost by category and child, with a "receipt kept" tick, and prints a year sheet a program or a tax preparer can read. Nothing leaves your browser.