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

Cal. Educ. Code § 48200 requires full-time public school attendance for ages 6 to 18 unless an exemption applies. California has no statute that uses the word homeschool; home education relies on the private full-time day school exemption (§ 48222, with the annual affidavit under § 33190) or the credentialed tutor exemption (§ 48224).

Cal. Educ. Code § 48200; Cal. Educ. Code § 48222; Cal. Educ. Code § 48224

The law as of September 29, 2026.

California at a glance

As of September 29, 2026

Notice to the state: Depends on the option
A home-based private school (or the PSP a child is enrolled in) files the private school affidavit with the Superintendent of Public Instruction between October 1 and 15 each year, under penalty of perjury; the CDE's filing system is open from August 1 to June 30 so new schools and home schools can file during the year. The private school exemption is valid only after the district attendance supervisor verifies the affidavit was filed, and that verification is not an approval of the school. § 48224 sets no filing requirement for the tutor option.Cal. Educ. Code § 33190; Cal. Educ. Code § 48222; CDE, Private School Affidavit Information
Records the law asks for: Depends on the option
A private school, including a home-based one, must keep an attendance register showing every absence of a half day or more, and the affidavit certifies that the school keeps that register, its courses of study, and the names, addresses and educational qualifications of its faculty at the records address stated. The CDE recommends, but does not require, individual pupil records as described in Cal. Code Regs. tit. 5, §§ 430 to 437. The tutor statute sets no records requirement.Cal. Educ. Code § 48222; Cal. Educ. Code § 33190(c), (f); CDE, Schooling at Home
Testing or evaluation: None required by law
No statute requires standardized testing or evaluation of students in a home-based private school, a PSP or a tutor arrangement. The CDE states that the state does not provide standardized tests or assessments to children who are educated privately.CDE, Private Schools Frequently Asked Questions
Graduation requirements: None set by the state
The state sets no graduation requirements for private schools, including home-based private schools. § 48222 requires instruction in the branches of study taught in public schools but does not set diploma requirements, so each private school sets its own (practice).Cal. Educ. Code § 48222
Diploma: Issued by: the private school (the parent for a home-based private school, or the PSP for its students)
The CDE has no role in determining the validity or acceptability of private school diplomas; colleges, employers and military branches decide whether to accept them. The state-issued alternative is the Certificate of Proficiency awarded on passing the California High School Proficiency Examination, which the law makes equivalent to a high school diploma and which is open to those 16 or older or who have completed a year of grade 10.CDE, Private Schools Frequently Asked Questions; Cal. Educ. Code § 48412(a)
Compulsory school ages: 6 to 18. Each person between the ages of 6 and 18 who is not exempted is subject to compulsory full-time education.Cal. Educ. Code § 48200

The legal options for homeschooling in California

Home-based private school (private school affidavit)The parent operates a private full-time day school in the home: instruction by persons capable of teaching, in English, in the several branches of study required in the public schools, with an attendance register, and the school files the private school affidavit each year. Basis: statute (private full-time day school exemption; the CDE recognizes a parent-operated home school under it)Cal. Educ. Code § 48222; Cal. Educ. Code § 33190
Private school satellite program (PSP)The child enrolls in an existing private school whose students are taught mainly at home; the PSP, as the private school, files the affidavit and keeps the attendance, course and faculty records. Basis: statute (private full-time day school exemption)Cal. Educ. Code § 48222; CDE, Private School Affidavit Information
Credentialed private tutorA child not attending a private school who is instructed by a tutor holding a valid state credential for the grade taught, in the branches of study required in public schools and in English, for at least three hours a day for 175 days each calendar year between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., is exempt. Basis: statuteCal. Educ. Code § 48224
Public charter school or public independent study programA local educational agency, including a charter school, may offer independent study, and the CDE lists these public programs as a way to school at home; the student is enrolled in a public school rather than homeschooling privately. Basis: statuteCal. Educ. Code § 51745; CDE, Schooling at Home

What California law means for your transcript

A home-based private school issues its own transcript and diploma, and the affidavit certifies that the school keeps its courses of study at the stated records address (Cal. Educ. Code § 33190(f)), which is a natural source for course titles.
No statute sets graduation courses for private schools; the CDE's Schooling at Home page points families to the UC and CSU admission course requirements, which many families use to plan high school courses (a convention, not law).
In a PSP, the PSP is the school of record and normally issues the transcript and diploma (practice).
The CHSPE Certificate of Proficiency (Cal. Educ. Code § 48412) is a state-issued credential equivalent to a high school diploma, available from age 16 or after a year of grade 10.

College admission and state aid for California homeschoolers

Educ. Code § 69432.9(c) directs the California Student Aid Commission to set by regulation the circumstances in which a Cal Grant applicant may submit a designated test score instead of a qualifying grade point average. No California statute found addresses homeschool applicants to UC, CSU or community colleges specifically.Cal. Educ. Code § 69432.9(c)

Recent changes to California homeschool law

The private school affidavit statute (§ 33190, last amended 1986), the private school exemption (§ 48222) and the tutor exemption (§ 48224) were not amended in 2023 to 2026. SB 848 (Stats. 2025, ch. 460), the Safe Learning Environments Act, extends child-abuse-prevention duties to private schools, including mandated-reporter status for employees, certain volunteers and governing board members and, from July 1, 2026, written professional-boundary policies and child abuse prevention training; HSLDA reads these duties as reaching PSPs but not parents teaching only their own children.

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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:

Whether SB 848's private school requirements apply to a home-based private school in which only a parent teaches the parent's own children was not determined from the bill text; the reading that they do not comes from HSLDA.
That a home can operate as a private school under § 48222 is the CDE's and HSLDA's position; no statute uses the word homeschool.
The CDE Private School Affidavit FAQ page could not be fully read; the August 1 to June 30 filing window comes from the CDE Private School Affidavit Information page.
The Cal Grant regulation implementing the test-score-in-lieu-of-GPA route was not read, so how it applies to homeschool applicants was not confirmed.

Sources

General information about California 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].