Arkansas homeschool law for high school: graduation, diploma and records

Ark. Code § 6-18-201(a) lets a parent satisfy compulsory attendance by providing a home school as described in § 6-15-501 et seq., and § 6-15-501 defines a home school as a school provided by a parent or legal guardian for his or her own child. The notice requirements are in § 6-15-503, and § 6-15-503(e) bars the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and the district from creating additional criteria or requiring additional information.

Ark. Code § 6-18-201(a); Ark. Code § 6-15-501; Ark. Code § 6-15-503(e)

The law as of September 29, 2026.

Arkansas at a glance

As of September 29, 2026

Notice to the state: Notice every year
The parent gives written notice of intent to the local superintendent at the beginning of each school year and no later than August 15, or, when withdrawing a student from the district during the year, five school days before withdrawing and each year thereafter; a family moving into a district during the year files within 30 calendar days of establishing residency. The notice must include each child's name, sex, date of birth, grade level and last school attended, the home school's mailing address and telephone number, the parent's name and signature, a statement of plans to participate in public school interscholastic activities (omitting it does not bar participation), and a statement of plans to seek a high school equivalency diploma. It may be given electronically, by mail or in person, and the information is confidential and usable only for statistical and recordkeeping purposes.Ark. Code § 6-15-503(a), (b); Arkansas DESE, Home Schools: Notice of Intent
Records the law asks for: None required by law
No Arkansas statute requires a home school parent to keep or submit records while home schooling. If the student later enrolls in a public school, the parent submits a transcript listing all courses taken and semester grades and a portfolio of indicators of academic progress (curricula used, tests taken and lessons completed), unless the school waives this by mutual agreement.Ark. Code § 6-15-504(b), (f)
Testing or evaluation: Depends on the option
Home school students are not required to take standardized tests. A student who participates in the Education Freedom Account (EFA) program must take an annual assessment approved by the State Board of Education, and DESE confirms this applies to home school EFA participants.Arkansas DESE, Frequently Asked Questions: Home School Parents (May 2026); Ark. Code § 6-18-2509(a)(1)
Graduation requirements: None set by the state
Arkansas sets no graduation requirements for home school students; DESE states that homeschoolers do not have state-mandated graduation requirements. A home-schooled student who enrolls in a public school must attend for at least nine months immediately before graduation to become eligible for that school's diploma.Arkansas DESE, Frequently Asked Questions: Home School Parents (May 2026); Ark. Code § 6-15-504(g)
Diploma: Issued by: parent
The Arkansas Department of Education does not provide diplomas or transcripts to homeschooled students, so the parent issues them (practice). No state-recognized homeschool credential was found.Arkansas DESE, Frequently Asked Questions: Home School Parents (May 2026)
Compulsory school ages: 5 through 17. A parent of a child aged five through 17 on or before the date set in § 6-18-207 must enroll the child in a public, private or parochial school or provide a home school; a parent may elect not to send a child to kindergarten if the child will not be six by that date.Ark. Code § 6-18-201(a)

How homeschooling is authorized in Arkansas

Home school under Ark. Code § 6-15-501 et seq.A parent or legal guardian may provide a home school for his or her own child by filing a written notice of intent with the local superintendent each year; a public school student under disciplinary action, or a child living with a person required to register as a sex offender, is restricted from home schooling under the conditions in the statute. Basis: statuteArk. Code § 6-15-501; Ark. Code § 6-15-503; Ark. Code § 6-15-508 (text not confirmed)

What Arkansas law means for your transcript

Record semester grades for every course: if the student enrolls in a public school, the law asks for a transcript listing all courses taken and semester grades plus a portfolio (Ark. Code § 6-15-504(b)).
For placement at or above the home school level, the public school looks at that transcript, a nationally recognized norm-referenced test score at or above the 30th percentile from the past year, and the portfolio (Ark. Code § 6-15-504(c)).
A student who returns to a public school must attend for nine months immediately before graduation to earn that school's diploma (Ark. Code § 6-15-504(g)).
Arkansas sets no home school graduation requirements and the state issues no homeschool transcript or diploma, so the parent issues both (DESE FAQ; practice).

College admission and state aid for Arkansas homeschoolers

The Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship statute lists graduation from 'a home school high school' among the routes to traditional-student eligibility, and the Division of Higher Education lists home school graduates as eligible, with a qualifying test score (for example an ACT composite of 19) as one way to qualify.Ark. Code § 6-85-207; Arkansas Division of Higher Education, Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship

Recent changes to Arkansas homeschool law

The LEARNS Act (Act 237 of 2023) did not amend the home school notice statute: § 6-15-503 was last amended in 2021 (the 2021 change cut the mid-year withdrawal wait from 14 days to five school days and removed the driver's license statement from the notice). LEARNS created the Education Freedom Account program (§ 6-18-2501 et seq.), which DESE says home school families may join, and EFA participants must test annually (§ 6-18-2509). In 2025, Act 920 (SB 625) revised EFA qualifying expenses, including caps of 25% of a student's annual allocation each for transportation and for extracurricular, physical education or field trip costs, and HB1633 amended home school athletic eligibility in § 6-15-509 (moving the non-resident district approval date from July 1 to June 1).

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What we could not confirm

These points could not be checked against the statute or regulation text, so treat them with care:

Arkansas Code text was read on Justia's 2025 Arkansas Code; the official LexisNexis-hosted code was not opened. § 6-15-508 (sex offender restriction) was only partly read.
DESE says the superintendent or local board may waive the five-day waiting period on request; the current statute text shows a waiver only in § 6-15-503(f)(2), tied to the return of school property, and no general waiver clause in § 6-15-503(a)(1)(B).
That the 2021 amendment was HB1429 (shown as Acts 2021, No. 623 in the code history) was inferred from the bill text and history line.
HB1633 of 2025 was read in its engrossed bill form; its act number and final enrolled wording were not confirmed, though news reports say it was signed.
As displayed on Justia, the home school route in § 6-85-207 sits under a subdivision about students with disabilities, which looks like a display or codification artifact; the ACT 19 figure comes from the Division of Higher Education page, not the statute.

Sources

General information about Arkansas law as of September 29, 2026, not legal advice. Laws change, so check the statute before you rely on it. Found an error? Email [email protected].