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

MCA 20-5-102 requires enrollment in the assigned public school unless the child is enrolled in a nonpublic or home school that complies with MCA 20-5-109, and a child in a home school may also enroll part time in a public school. MCA 20-5-111 gives the parent authority to instruct in a home school and makes the parent solely responsible for its educational philosophy, materials and curriculum, time, place and method of instruction, and evaluation.

Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-102; Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-109; Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-111

The law as of September 29, 2026.

Montana at a glance

As of September 29, 2026

Notice to the state: Notice every year
A home school shall notify the county superintendent of schools of the county where the home school is located, in each school fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), of the student's attendance at the school. The statute sets no specific date within the year and lists no required contents beyond the student's attendance.Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-109(2)(a); Mont. Code Ann. § 20-1-301(1)
Records the law asks for: Required
A home school shall keep records of pupil attendance and make them available to the county superintendent on request; since HB 778 (2025) home schools no longer have to keep immunization records under this section. The home school must also provide at least 720 hours of instruction per school fiscal year in grades 1 to 3 and 1,080 hours in grades 4 to 12. The statute sets no retention period.Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-109(2)(b) and (c); Mont. Code Ann. § 20-1-301(2)
Testing or evaluation: None required by law
Montana law requires no testing or outside evaluation of home school students; the parent is solely responsible for the evaluation of the home school instruction. A school district verifying a home school student's academic eligibility for extracurricular activities may not include any form of student assessment.Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-111(4); Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-112(3)(b)
Graduation requirements: None set by the state
Montana sets no graduation or credit requirements for home school students. The home school must provide an organized course of study that includes the subjects required of public schools as a basic instructional program under MCA 20-7-111, which is a course-of-study rule, not a graduation rule.Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-109(2)(d); Mont. Code Ann. § 20-7-111
Diploma: Issued by: parent (no statute addresses it)
No Montana statute says who issues a home school diploma; in practice the parent issues it, consistent with the parent's sole responsibility for the home school under MCA 20-5-111. The state does not issue a home school diploma.Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-111
Compulsory school ages: A child who is 7 or older before the first day of school in the school fiscal year must be instructed until the later of the 16th birthday or completion of 8th grade.Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-102(1); Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-103(1)

How homeschooling is authorized in Montana

Home schoolA home school is instruction by a parent of the parent's child, stepchild or ward in the parent's residence; to exempt the child from compulsory enrollment it must meet the notice, attendance-record, hours and course-of-study conditions in MCA 20-5-109(2). Basis: statuteMont. Code Ann. § 20-5-102(2)(e); Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-109(2)

What Montana law means for your transcript

The parent is solely responsible for evaluating home school instruction (MCA 20-5-111(4)), so grades on the transcript are the parent's to assign.
No Montana law defines a high school credit for home schools; the 1,080 hours for grades 4 to 12 is an annual instruction minimum, not a credit definition, and MCA 20-1-301(1) says 1,050 hours for graduating seniors may be sufficient.
For full admission to a Montana University System four-year program, Board of Regents Policy 301.1 lists a college preparatory program (4 years English, 3 years math including Algebra I, geometry and Algebra II, 3 years social studies, 2 years laboratory science, 2 years of electives from its list); showing these courses on the transcript is practice, not a homeschool law.
Because MUS campuses may admit homeschooled students on ACT, SAT, GED or HiSET performance (Policy 301), listing test scores with the transcript is useful practice.

College admission and state aid for Montana homeschoolers

Montana University System campuses require graduation from an accredited high school or a designated equivalency credential, but at the discretion of the institution a student who completed secondary education through home schooling may meet that requirement by satisfactory performance on the ACT, SAT, GED or HiSET (Board of Regents Policy 301, revised July 9, 2026). This is a Board of Regents policy, not a statute.Mont. Bd. of Regents Policy 301, § I.A

Recent changes to Montana homeschool law

HB 778 (2025, Ch. 724, effective on passage and approval; signed 13 May 2025) split MCA 20-5-109 into separate rules for nonpublic schools and home schools and removed, for home schools, the duty to keep immunization records and the building health-and-safety requirement. SB 350 (2025, Ch. 603, effective on passage and approval) amended MCA 20-5-112 so a district or athletic association may restrict a home school student's extracurricular participation based on U.S. citizenship or Montana residency status.

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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 13 May 2025 signing date for HB 778 comes from BillTrack50; the effective-on-approval clause was confirmed in the enrolled bill text. The approval date for SB 350 (2025) was not confirmed.
HSLDA lists the basic instructional program subjects as English language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, health, arts and career education; I did not open the Board of Public Education accreditation rules that define that program.
Whether the 1,050-hour sufficiency for graduating seniors in MCA 20-1-301(1) applies to home schools depends on reading MCA 20-5-109(2)(c), which applies hours 'in accordance with 20-1-301 and 20-1-302'; no agency statement on this was found.
The OPI home school packet found online (updated October 2020) predates HB 778 and was not relied on for current requirements.

Sources

General information about Montana 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].