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

RSMo 167.031 requires a child aged 7 to the district's compulsory attendance age to attend a public, private, parochial, parish, home school, FPE school or a combination of them. Home schools are defined and regulated by RSMo 167.012 and FPE schools by RSMo 167.013, both created in 2024 and amended in 2025. The state may not dictate any statewide curriculum for home or FPE schools (RSMo 167.031.2).

RSMo § 167.031; RSMo § 167.012; RSMo § 167.013

The law as of September 29, 2026.

Missouri at a glance

As of September 29, 2026

Notice to the state: No notice required
No notice to the state or district is required. The optional declaration of enrollment that parents could file with the county recorder of deeds or the district was repealed by SB 63 (2025); RSMo 167.042 now says that if a parent gives written notice of intent to use another educational option and asks that the child be dropped from the district rolls, the school shall remove the child promptly. DESE states that no registration with the state is required.RSMo § 167.042; Missouri DESE, Frequently Asked Questions (Home Schooling)
Records the law asks for: Required
For each child under 16, the parent shall maintain (not submit) a plan book, diary or other written record of subjects taught and activities, a portfolio of work samples and a record of evaluations of academic progress, or other written or credible evidence equivalent to those three, and shall offer at least 1,000 hours of instruction, at least 600 in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science or related academic courses, with at least 400 of those 600 at the regular home school location. These requirements do not apply to a pupil aged 16 or older, the statute sets no retention period, and home school records are subject to review only by the local prosecuting attorney.RSMo § 167.012.2 to .4; RSMo § 167.013.2 to .4 (FPE schools)
Testing or evaluation: None required by law
No standardized testing or outside evaluation is required. The records rule requires the parent to keep a record of evaluations of the child's academic progress (or equivalent evidence), but the law does not say what form the evaluation takes or require it to be submitted.RSMo § 167.012.2(1)
Graduation requirements: None set by the state
Missouri law sets no graduation or credit requirements for home school or FPE school students. RSMo 167.031.5 defines a home school or FPE school credit as 100 or more hours of instruction in a course, but only for counting the 16 credits that end compulsory attendance.RSMo § 167.031.4 and .5
Diploma: Issued by: parent (no statute addresses it)
No Missouri statute says who issues a home school diploma; in practice the parent, as the operator of the home school, issues it. DESE says it does not regulate or monitor home schooling, and the state does not issue diplomas to home school students.Missouri DESE, Frequently Asked Questions (Home Schooling)
Compulsory school ages: 7 to the district's compulsory attendance age, which is 17 (or earlier completion of 16 credits toward high school graduation) in most cases; the board of a metropolitan school district may set 17 by resolution and, having done so, may lower it to 16. A child aged 5 to 7 who is enrolled in public school must attend regularly unless the parent asks in writing that the child be dropped from the rolls.RSMo § 167.031.1 and .4

The legal options for homeschooling in Missouri

Home schoolA home school is a school whose primary purpose is private or religious-based instruction, that enrolls children aged 7 to the district's compulsory attendance age (no more than four of them unrelated to the family), charges no tuition, is not an FPE school and does not enroll MOScholars participants. Basis: statuteRSMo § 167.012.1; RSMo § 167.031.1
Family Paced Education (FPE) schoolAn FPE school meets the same definition and the same records and hours rules as a home school, except that it may enroll children who participate in the MOScholars program (RSMo 135.712 to 135.719 and 166.700 to 166.720). Basis: statuteRSMo § 167.013

What Missouri law means for your transcript

For home school and FPE students, Missouri law defines a credit toward high school graduation as 100 or more hours of instruction in a course, for the purpose of the 16-credit exit from compulsory attendance (RSMo 167.031.5).
The hours and records rules stop applying at age 16 (RSMo 167.012.3), so keeping logs and work samples for the last high school years is practice, not law; HSLDA recommends keeping high school records indefinitely.
Bright Flight eligibility for a homeschooled student rests on completion of the homeschool program plus a qualifying ACT or SAT score (RSMo 173.250.2(4)), so listing the test date and score with the transcript is useful practice.
No Missouri law sets graduation courses, a grading scale or a GPA method for home schools; the 4-year English and similar course patterns families use are convention.

College admission and state aid for Missouri homeschoolers

The Bright Flight academic scholarship (Higher Education Academic Scholarship Program) counts completion of a program of study through homeschooling as completing secondary coursework, alongside a qualifying ACT or SAT score in the top 5 percent of Missouri test-takers and the other eligibility rules.RSMo § 173.250.2(4)

Recent changes to Missouri homeschool law

SB 727 and HB 2287 (2024, effective 28 August 2024) moved the home school definition into new RSMo 167.012 and created the Family Paced Education (FPE) school in RSMo 167.013, which may enroll MOScholars participants. SB 63 (2025, effective 28 August 2025) repealed the optional declaration of enrollment, replaced RSMo 167.042 with a rule that districts must promptly drop a child from the rolls on written request, and added RSMo 167.790 giving home school and FPE students access to district and charter school activities if they meet its conditions. HB 2426 (2026, a parental-rights bill) failed in the House and is not law.

Build a transcript for a Missouri homeschool

The PDF prints this summary of Missouri law with its citations, alongside the transcript and the GPA workings. $29, once.

Build my transcript

What we could not confirm

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

RSMo 167.012.2(2) says 'at least one thousand hours of instruction' without itself stating the period; RSMo 167.031.3 defines a school year as July 1 to June 30, and HSLDA and DESE describe the 1,000 hours as per school year or term. I did not find a statute stating the counting period expressly for home schools.
DESE's separate 'Homeschooling Transcripts or Diplomas' page returned 403 and could not be opened; the diploma statement relies on the DESE FAQ page, which says DESE does not regulate or monitor home schooling.
HB 2426 (2026) status comes from HSLDA's bill page only; I did not check the Missouri House bill page.

Sources

General information about Missouri 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].