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

ORS 339.010 and 339.020 require children 6 to 18 who have not completed grade 12 to attend a public full-time school, and ORS 339.030(1)(d)-(e) exempt children taught by a private teacher or educated at home by a parent or legal guardian. ORS 339.035 and the State Board rule OAR 581-021-0026 set the notification and testing requirements for both options.

ORS 339.010, 339.020, 339.030, 339.035; Or. Admin. R. 581-021-0026

The law as of September 29, 2026.

Oregon at a glance

As of September 29, 2026

Notice to the state: One-time notice
The parent, legal guardian or private teacher must notify the ESD in writing within 10 days of beginning home instruction or withdrawing the child from school, and must notify the new ESD within 10 days after moving to another ESD; the ESD must acknowledge the notice in writing within 90 days (ORS 339.035(2); OAR 581-021-0026(4)). The notice gives the child's and parent's names and address (telephone and email optional), the child's birth date, and the school the child attends or last attended or, if none, the resident public school district (OAR 581-021-0026(1)(f)). A parent of a child who turns 6 after September 1 need not give notice until the beginning of the next school year (OAR 581-021-0026(11)).ORS 339.035(2); Or. Admin. R. 581-021-0026(1)(f), (4), (11); Oregon Department of Education, Information for Families
Records the law asks for: None required by law
No statute or rule requires attendance, curriculum or portfolio records. The only document the parent must produce is the test result, and only when the ESD superintendent requests it (ORS 339.035(3)(d); OAR 581-021-0026(5)(c)); keeping other records is advice from HSLDA, not law.ORS 339.035(3)(d); Or. Admin. R. 581-021-0026(5)(c); HSLDA, The Importance of Recordkeeping in Oregon
Testing or evaluation: Required
The child must take a State Board-approved test (the two most recent versions of TerraNova/CAT 3, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills or Tests of Achievement and Proficiency, or the Stanford Achievement Battery), given by a qualified neutral person, at grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 and no later than August 15; the first test comes at least 18 months after withdrawal from school, or before the end of grade 3 for a child who never attended school (ORS 339.035(3); OAR 581-021-0026(1)(a), (5)). A composite score below the 15th percentile requires a retest within one year, and if scores keep declining the ESD superintendent may require supervision by a licensed teacher chosen and paid for by the parent or order school attendance for up to 12 consecutive months (ORS 339.035(4)). A child with a disability who has an IEP or a privately developed plan is evaluated as the plan recommends instead of being tested (ORS 339.035(5)).ORS 339.035(3)-(5); Or. Admin. R. 581-021-0026(1)(a), (5)-(7)
Graduation requirements: None set by the state
Oregon sets no graduation or credit requirements for home instruction. The Oregon diploma requirements in ORS 329.451 govern diplomas awarded by school districts and public charter schools.ORS 329.451(1); Oregon Department of Education, Information for Families
Diploma: Issued by: parent
No Oregon statute provides for a homeschool diploma or for state recognition of one; ORS 329.451 diplomas are awarded only by school districts and public charter schools, and in practice the parent issues a homeschool diploma. The Department of Education's family page says some colleges accept a homeschool transcript in place of a diploma but some other programs and scholarship providers do not, and it describes the GED as one option for high school completion.ORS 329.451(1); Oregon Department of Education, Information for Families
Compulsory school ages: Children between 6 and 18 who have not completed grade 12; a child is 6 if the sixth birthday falls on or before September 1 before the school term begins. A 5-year-old enrolled in a public school must attend while enrolled, and a child who has received a high school diploma or modified diploma is exempt.ORS 339.010(1)-(3); ORS 339.030(1)(c)

The legal options for homeschooling in Oregon

Home instruction by a parent or legal guardianChildren being educated in the children's home by a parent or legal guardian are exempt from public school attendance (ORS 339.030(1)(e)); the parent must notify the education service district (ESD) in writing and have the child tested at grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 (ORS 339.035). Basis: statuteORS 339.030(1)(e); ORS 339.035; Or. Admin. R. 581-021-0026
Instruction by a private teacherChildren taught by a private teacher, for a period equivalent to that required of public school students, the courses of study usually taught in kindergarten through grade 12 in the public schools are also exempt (ORS 339.030(1)(d)); the same notification and testing rules in ORS 339.035 apply. Basis: statuteORS 339.030(1)(d); ORS 339.035(2)-(3)

What Oregon law means for your transcript

No Oregon law defines a high school credit or prescribes a homeschool transcript; the 120-hour Carnegie unit is a common convention, not a requirement.
For the Oregon Promise grant, Oregon Student Aid asks for a standard transcript from the home-school teacher describing coursework and letter grades, together with the ESD confirmation letter and the grade 10 test results (Oregon Student Aid, Oregon Promise FAQ).
Oregon Promise requires a cumulative high school GPA of 2.0 or an equivalent academic ability (ORS 341.522(3)(e)), so showing a cumulative GPA on the transcript is useful practice.
The Department of Education warns that a public high school may not count homeschool coursework toward its diploma, so a student who may return to public high school benefits from course descriptions and work samples (practice, not law).

College admission and state aid for Oregon homeschoolers

The Oregon Promise community college grant is open to a person who completed grade 12 in compliance with ORS 339.035, with a cumulative high school GPA of 2.0 or an equivalent academic ability as determined under commission rules (ORS 341.522(3)(c)(C), (e); OAR 575-039-0020(2)-(3)); Oregon Student Aid asks a homeschooled applicant for the ESD confirmation letter, the grade 10 test results and a transcript describing coursework and letter grades. A public university or community college must charge no more than resident tuition to a nonresident Native American or Alaska Native student who completed grade 12 in compliance with ORS 339.035 (ORS 350.292(1)).ORS 341.522(3); Or. Admin. R. 575-039-0020; Oregon Student Aid, Oregon Promise FAQ; ORS 350.292(1)

Recent changes to Oregon homeschool law

No change to ORS 339.030 or 339.035 was enacted in 2023 through the 2026 session (they were last amended in 2017 and 2013), and the 2026 session's amendments to ORS chapter 339 (HB 4079, HB 4149 and HB 4160) do not concern home instruction. OAR 581-021-0026 was amended by ODE 14-2024, effective April 24, 2024, with a minor correction on April 25, 2024. HB 2187 (2025), which would have removed the notification and testing requirements, and HB 3624 (2025), which would have had ESDs pay for the tests, were not enacted and are not law.

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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:

ORS 339.035 itself sets no deadline for the notice; the 10-day deadline is in OAR 581-021-0026(4). The Department of Education's family page words it as 10 days from withdrawing the child or from the start of the school year.
OAR 581-021-0026(1)(h) and (4) still cite ORS 339.030(1)(c) and (1)(d), paragraph letters that no longer match the statute (private teacher is now (1)(d) and parent or legal guardian is (1)(e)).
We did not confirm what the April 2024 amendment (ODE 14-2024) changed in OAR 581-021-0026; the rule text was read on LII and its history, approved-test list and section (4) were confirmed on the Secretary of State site.
ORS 339.460 (interscholastic activities for homeschooled students) lists an amendment by Oregon Laws 2023, chapter 81; we did not confirm what that amendment changed.
The ORS text used is the 2025 edition; 2026 session changes were checked through the Legislature's 2026 table of amended sections, not a full keyword search.

Sources

General information about Oregon 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].