Vermont is one of the few states where homeschooling runs through the state education agency rather than the local district. Families enroll their "home study program" with the Agency of Education, and since a 2023 amendment took effect the process is built on attestations: the parent attests to providing the minimum course of study, attests that the student will be assessed at the end of each year, and keeps the assessment records at home. There is no curriculum submission, no state approval of materials, and no required filing of test scores or portfolios with the state.
Legal framework
Home study is governed by 16 V.S.A. 166b, which was substantially simplified by Act 66 of 2023, effective July 1, 2023. Most of the older machinery, including the state's power to call hearings on a home study program, has been repealed outright; the section now consists of the enrollment notice, an annual renewal notice, a withdrawal notice, and a religious waiver clause under which the Secretary may excuse specific requirements for families whose deep religious conviction, shared by an organized group, prevents compliance.
Compulsory attendance under 16 V.S.A. 1121 covers children between the ages of six and 16, and a home study program is one of the four ways to satisfy it. Notably, the obligation also ends early for a child who has completed the tenth grade. The Secretary's written acknowledgment of a complete enrollment notice, due within 10 business days, is itself sufficient enrollment verification for attendance purposes.
Notification & registration
The enrollment notice goes to the Agency of Education, on the Agency's form, at least 10 business days before home study begins. It contains the child's name and date of birth; contact information and town of legal residence for every parent or guardian with legal custody who is authorized to make educational decisions, with all of their signatures (or an attestation of sole educational decision-making authority); the assessment and minimum-course-of-study attestations; and, for a child never previously enrolled in a Vermont public school or home study program, independent professional evidence about whether the child has a documented disability and how it may affect progress.
After the first year, the family files a short annual notice of intent to continue, again at least 10 business days before the year's intended start date. If a student leaves the program, for example to enroll in school, the parent notifies the Secretary in writing within 10 business days of the withdrawal. The Agency of Education home study office publishes both forms online and in printable versions.
Recordkeeping
The parent attests to providing the equivalent of at least 175 days of instruction per year in the minimum course of study, and to assessing each child's academic progress at the end of every school year. The statute permits five means of assessment: a standardized assessment administered by the district, a testing service, or in a manner approved by the testing company; a progress review by an individual holding a current Vermont teacher's certificate; a parent report and portfolio containing a summary of the year plus at least four samples of student work; grades from an online academy or school; or evidence of passing the GED. The parent maintains these records rather than filing them. The minimum course of study is defined in 16 V.S.A. 906: all six subject fields for a child under 13, and for a student 13 or older the four core fields of basic communication skills including reading, writing, and the use of numbers; citizenship, history, and government in Vermont and the United States; English, American, and other literature; and the natural sciences.
Graduation requirements
Vermont sets no diploma or credit requirements for home study students; the parent decides when the program is complete. For high school planning, the University of Vermont's published minimum entrance requirements are a practical transcript target: four years of English, three of mathematics through algebra II or equivalent, three of social science, three of natural or physical science including a lab science, and two years of the same foreign language, with American Sign Language accepted.
Who issues the diploma
The parent operating the home study program issues the diploma in the name of the family's program, signed by the parent. Nothing in 16 V.S.A. 166b gives the Agency of Education any role in certifying completion; the Agency's enrollment acknowledgment verifies attendance status, and the transcript and diploma the family prepares are the student's completion documents.
College & military recognition
Vermont's statewide Dual Enrollment Program under 16 V.S.A. 944 names home study students expressly: a Vermont resident who has completed grade 10 and "is a home study student" may take up to two dual enrollment college courses with no tuition charged to the student or parent, during the school year or the summer, provided dual enrollment is an element of the student's personalized learning plan and the postsecondary institution finds the student prepared.
For admission, the University of Vermont is test-optional and asks first-year applicants for official transcripts and at least one letter of recommendation, preferably from a teacher; a parent-prepared home study transcript takes the place of the school-issued one. The Community College of Vermont is an open-admissions college that accepts applications without a diploma or GED, though it notes a completed diploma or GED is needed for most financial aid. For military enlistment, homeschool graduates qualify as Tier 1 applicants under current Department of Defense policy when they present a diploma and transcript.
Official source
For current statutory text, forms, and procedural updates, the authoritative source is the Vermont Agency of Education - Home Study. Homeschool laws change, so confirm specific requirements directly with the state before relying on them.
Vermont homeschool organizations
State agencies publish the rules, but they rarely help you interpret them. For that, Vermont homeschool families generally turn to Vermont Home Education Network (VHEN), 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.