Maryland runs homeschooling on a supervision model. Every family files the same state notification form, then chooses who checks their work: the local school system, through portfolio reviews twice a year, or a registered umbrella entity (a nonpublic school or church-based education ministry) that supervises the program under its own rules. Maryland also has an unusual wrinkle at the finish line: the credential called the “Maryland High School Diploma” is a public school and state-exam credential, so a homeschool family's diploma is its own private credential, which colleges and employers routinely accept alongside the transcript.
Legal framework
Home instruction is governed by COMAR 13A.10.01, the State Board of Education's home instruction regulations. The stated purpose is a procedure for the local superintendent to determine that a child is receiving regular, thorough instruction in the studies usually taught in the public schools to children of the same age. The Maryland State Department of Education's home instruction page publishes the notification form, the regulation text, and the list of registered umbrella entities.
Notification & registration
The parent signs a consent statement on the form prescribed by the State Department of Education and submits it to the local superintendent or designee at least 15 calendar days before beginning home instruction. After that, the family verifies continuation annually before the beginning of the school year with whichever entity supervises them, and must notify that entity if the arrangement changes during the year. Families choosing umbrella supervision may register with a nonpublic school holding an MSDE Certificate of Approval, a church-exempt nonpublic school, or an education ministry operated by a bona fide church organization.
Recordkeeping
A locally supervised program must include instruction in English, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education, take place on a regular basis during the school year, and be of sufficient duration to implement the program. The parent maintains a portfolio demonstrating that instruction: instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of the child's writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, and tests.
The local school system reviews the portfolio at the conclusion of each semester, at times mutually agreeable to the reviewer and the parent, with no more than three reviews in a school year. If a review finds a deficiency that is not corrected within 30 days, the regulation requires prompt enrollment in a public or nonpublic school. Umbrella-supervised families follow the umbrella's recordkeeping rules instead; the umbrella holds a pre-enrollment conference, meets with the family at intervals, and verifies enrollment annually to the local superintendent.
Graduation requirements
Maryland prescribes no course, credit, or testing requirements for completing a home instruction program; the parent, or the umbrella under its own policies, determines when the student has graduated. Note the vocabulary carefully: MSDE states that the Maryland High School Diploma can only be issued by public schools, or earned by examination through the GED. A homeschool graduate does not receive that state credential, and does not need it; the family's own diploma and transcript serve as the record of completion. Aligning the transcript with Maryland public high school graduation requirements is a useful reference for in-state admissions.
Who issues the diploma
The parent operating the home instruction program issues the diploma in the name of the family's program. Families supervised by an umbrella organization may receive a diploma from the umbrella instead, under that organization's own graduation policies. Either way the credential is private, not a state-issued Maryland High School Diploma, and its substance is the transcript behind it.
College & military recognition
Maryland's public universities publish written homeschool policies. The University of Maryland catalog asks home-schooled applicants for transcripts with course descriptions, books used, methods of evaluation and grades received, plus a statement describing the curriculum; they meet the same minimum course requirements as all applicants, and the two required recommendations come from someone in a supervisory or evaluative capacity and from a teacher in any setting.
Towson University's homeschool requirements spell out what the parent-issued transcript must contain, from the grading scale and course-by-course grades to the signature of the person issuing the transcript (parents acting as school administrator), and ask for proof of review by the homeschool umbrella or the school district's homeschool coordinator, which is one more reason to keep every review record. Homeschool graduates qualify for Tier 1 military enlistment under current DoD policy.
Official source
For current statutory text, forms, and procedural updates, the authoritative source is the Maryland State Department of Education - Home Instruction. Homeschool laws change, so confirm specific requirements directly with the state before relying on them.
Maryland homeschool organizations
State agencies publish the rules, but they rarely help you interpret them. For that, Maryland homeschool families generally turn to Maryland Association of Christian Home Educators (MACHE), the statewide homeschool association. Groups like this one track legislative changes, run conventions and support-group networks, and answer the practical questions that statutes leave open. We are not affiliated with them and receive nothing for the mention; they are simply the most useful next stop after the state's own guidance.