Parents' Reasons for Homeschooling, 2003
Updated August 5, 2020 |
Infoplease Staff
| Applicable1 | Most important reason | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reasons for homeschooling | Number | Percent | Number | Percent |
| Concern about environment of other schools2 | 935,000 | 85.4% | 341,000 | 31.2% |
| Dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools | 748,000 | 68.2 | 180,000 | 16.5 |
| To provide religious or moral instruction | 793,000 | 72.3 | 327,000 | 29.8 |
| Child has a physical or mental health problem | 174,000 | 15.9 | 71,000 | 6.5 |
| Child has other special needs | 316,000 | 28.9 | 79,000 | 7.2 |
| Other reasons3 | 221,000 | 20.1 | 97,000 | 8.8 |
NOTES: Excludes students who were enrolled in school for more than 25 hours a week and students who were homeschooled only because of a temporary illness.
1. Percentages do not sum to 100 percent because respondents could choose more than one reason.
2. Includes safety, drugs, and negative peer pressure.
3. These reasons are often unique to a given family's situation. Some reasons parents gave include child’s preference, increased parental control over child's learning, and flexibility.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES).
| General Educational Development (GED) Credentials Issued, 1971–2004 | Elementary and High School Education | Characteristics of Homeschooled Students, 1999 and 2003 |
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