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

G.L. c. 76, § 1 requires attendance at a public or approved private day school unless the child is otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance by the superintendent or school committee. The Supreme Judicial Court held that home school approval follows the statute's private school standard (instruction equal 'in thoroughness and efficiency, and in the progress made therein' to the local public schools) and that approval must not be conditioned on requirements not essential to the state interest; it later held that a home visit requirement was not essential to approval.

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, § 1; Care & Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987); Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools, 428 Mass. 512 (1998)

The law as of September 29, 2026.

Massachusetts at a glance

As of September 29, 2026

Notice to the state: Depends on the option
Approval must come before home education starts. DESE says the parent must first notify the district where the family lives (preferably in writing), that notification alone does not authorize home schooling, and that the district must then provide its policy, review the proposed plan and communicate its decision within a reasonable period. How often a plan must be resubmitted (for example, each year) is set by each school committee's policy, not by statute.Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, § 1; Mass. DESE, Home Schooling
Records the law asks for: Depends on the option
No statute lists required records. Under Charles, the superintendent or school committee may require access to the textbooks, workbooks and other instructional aids and to the lesson plans and teaching manuals, but only to determine the subjects and grade level, not to dictate how subjects are taught; what the parent submits is set by the approved plan and local policy.Care & Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987)
Testing or evaluation: Depends on the option
Charles allows school authorities to require periodic standardized testing, with the location and test chosen in consultation with the parents; other means such as periodic progress reports or dated work samples may be substituted, subject to the parents' approval. The evaluation method used is fixed by the approved plan under local policy, and no grade-specific testing rule exists in statute.Care & Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987); Mass. DESE, Home Schooling
Graduation requirements: None set by the state
No Massachusetts statute or regulation sets graduation or credit requirements for home-educated students. Charles lets a district consider the proposed curriculum and the hours of instruction in each subject when approving a plan.Care & Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987)
Diploma: Issued by: parent
No statute or regulation provides for a homeschool diploma, and DESE's home schooling page does not address one; a parent-issued diploma is practice.Mass. DESE, Home Schooling
Compulsory school ages: 6 to 16 (DESE). The statute leaves the minimum and maximum ages to the Board of Education, and 603 CMR 8.02 requires attendance beginning in September of the calendar year in which the child turns 6.Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, § 1; 603 CMR 8.02; Mass. DESE, Home Schooling

How homeschooling is authorized in Massachusetts

Home education approved in advance by the superintendent or school committeeG.L. c. 76, § 1 excuses a child 'being otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance by the superintendent or the school committee'; each school committee adopts its own approval policy, and the limits on what a district may require come from Care and Protection of Charles (1987) and Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools (1998). Basis: statute, with approval standards from case lawMass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, § 1; Care & Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987); Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools, 428 Mass. 512 (1998)

What Massachusetts law means for your transcript

State university and UMass admission standards call for 17 courses: 4 English, 4 math (including math in the final year), 3 sciences with lab work, 2 social sciences including 1 U.S. History, 2 courses in a single world language and 2 electives; these are admission standards, not graduation law (DHE Reference Guide, 2019).
DHE notes that some campuses may require test scores from home-schooled applicants even under test-optional policies (DHE admissions standards page).
No Massachusetts law defines a homeschool credit; the 120-hour Carnegie unit is a common convention, not a requirement.
Keeping the approved plan and the evaluations the district accepted (test results, progress reports or work samples) with the transcript is practice, not a legal requirement.

College admission and state aid for Massachusetts homeschoolers

Under the Department of Higher Education's admissions standards for the state universities and UMass, home-schooled applicants are subject to the same course and GPA standards as other applicants, and those who do not meet them may be admitted under the special admissions category at the campus's discretion. This is agency policy, not statute.Mass. DHE, Undergraduate Admissions Standards Reference Guide (2019), Homeschooled Applicants; Mass. DHE, Admissions Standards

Recent changes to Massachusetts homeschool law

No 2023 to 2026 change to the home instruction clause of G.L. c. 76, § 1 was found, and no homeschool bill in the 194th General Court (2025 to 2026) was found to have been enacted. DESE's current home schooling page sets out the notify, submit, review and decide sequence and states that DESE does not approve plans, oversee district policies or review district decisions.

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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:

The maximum compulsory age of 16 comes from DESE's home schooling page; I did not locate the Board of Education regulation that sets the maximum age.
I could not determine when DESE last revised its home schooling page, so I cannot date that guidance to 2024, 2025 or 2026.
The DHE admissions reference guide is dated 2019; the current DHE admissions page still refers to 17 required academic courses, but I did not confirm each course detail against a newer document.
The Charles and Brunelle opinions were read from the Caselaw Access Project text; the CourtListener links are for convenience.
HSLDA's Massachusetts compliance page returned no readable content, so it was not used.

Sources

General information about Massachusetts 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].