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Iowa · 2026-2027 school year

Iowa homeschool requirements, 2026-2027

Last checked against the statutes and the state's own guidance: 2026-09-04

What you must do this year, by pathway

Do not know your pathway yet? Start at step 1, choose each child's pathway, then come back here.

What each pathway asks and opens

The legend: IPI means independent private instruction. CPI means competent private instruction. HSAP means a home school assistance program. Path 2 is CPI with no reporting; Path 3 is CPI with reporting; Path 4 is CPI with a licensed teacher.

The five rows below are a quick comparison. The pathway cards below carry the full conditions.

On a phone, each pathway is shown as a short stack.

Pathway Files what, and by when Yearly evaluation 148 days Dual enrollment or special education
1 · IPI Nothing routinely. Answer a state or superintendent letter if one comes. No. No set count. No PSEO (Iowa Code §§ 261E.6 and 261E.7; chapter 261C was repealed in 2008), AP, district classes or teams, or special education. Grades 9 to 12 keep community-college concurrent-enrollment classes through the district under the separate Senior Year Plus program (§ 261E.8), and driver's ed.
2 · CPI Nothing. No routine report. No. Not set by statute; the Department reads it as applying. Keep a quiet calendar. No dual enrollment, district classes, teams, or special education. Concurrent-enrollment classes in grades 9 to 12 are a mixed picture. Iowa Code § 261E.8(2)(a) names competent private instruction; the Department routes a CPI family there through dual enrollment (Form A). Driver's ed and a district test on request remain available.
3 · CPI Form A to the resident district by September 1; a midyear filing starts within 14 days and is completed within 30. Yes, for a child of compulsory age: finish by May 31 and send results by August 1. Yes: 148 days, at least 37 each quarter. Request public classes, activities, sports, or special education on Form A.
4 · CPI Form A to the resident district by September 1. No state yearly evaluation; the licensed teacher has the required contact. Yes: 148 days, at least 37 each quarter. Request public classes, activities, sports, or special education on Form A.
5 · HSAP Form A through the program by September 15, or September 1 if dual enrolling. No state test; the program may set its own conditions. Yes: 148 days, at least 37 each quarter. Request public classes, activities, sports, or special education on Form A.
  • Pathways 1 and 2 (independent private instruction, IPI; competent private instruction with no reporting): nothing is filed, nothing is tested, no days are reported. Teach math, reading and language arts, science, and social studies.
  • Pathways 3 and 4 (competent private instruction, CPI, with reporting; CPI with a licensed practitioner): Form A to your resident district on or before September 1, one per child, with immunization paperwork if your district's form asks for it; at least 148 days, 37 each quarter.
  • Pathway 5 (a home school assistance program): Form A through the program by September 15, or September 1 if you plan to dual enroll; 148 days, 37 each quarter.
  • Pathway 3 only: the yearly evaluation for each child of compulsory age, finished by May 31 and sent by August 1: a standardized test above the 30th percentile, a portfolio review, or an accredited correspondence school.
  • Everyone: compulsory age is six and not yet sixteen on September 15. Your own records are the whole story on the pathways that file nothing.

Iowa has no single homeschool procedure. Iowa Code chapter 299A gives a family five pathways, and almost every date, test and day count on this page belongs to one of them. Pathways 1 and 2 report to no one. Pathways 3 and 4 file Form A with your resident district by September 1. Pathway 5 files through its home school assistance program by September 15. All three that file count 148 days, and only Pathway 3 requires a yearly evaluation. Pick the pathway first, then read your dates.

1Choose each child's pathwayYour call, recorded here

Iowa does not have one homeschool procedure. It has five pathways, numbered 1 to 5 below. Almost every date on this page belongs to one of them rather than to Iowa families generally. Siblings may be on different pathways, and a child may change pathways between years.

Which pathway is yours? Three questions decide it.

  • Do you want nothing filed, ever? Pathway 2 (competent private instruction with no reporting) files nothing and answers no routine question. Pathway 1 (independent private instruction) also files nothing routinely, but it answers a letter if one comes. It is the pathway for a parent who also teaches other people's children, or who charges for teaching. Iowa's 2026 HF 2754 struck the four-student cap and the no-fee rule, so the statute sets neither limit.
  • Do you want your child in a district class, on a team, in special education, or dual enrolled? Then a Form A pathway: 3 (Form A by September 1, with a yearly evaluation), 4 (Form A, a licensed teacher, no yearly evaluation), or 5 (through the district's home school assistance program, by September 15, or September 1 if dual enrolling).
  • Do you want a licensed teacher involved? Pathway 4 if it is your own teacher, or you with a fitting licence; Pathway 5 if you want the district's.

CPI (competent private instruction) and HSAP (home school assistance program) are defined in the table above and used throughout.

Pathway 1: Teach on your own (independent private instruction, IPI)
Pick this if you also teach a few kids who are not your own, up to four, without charging for it.
  • Your teaching has to qualify as IPI. It must be private instruction that is not accredited, taught from a plan and course of study. Private or religious-based instruction must be its primary purpose.
  • You send in: nothing. One thing can happen. The district superintendent or the head of the state education department can mail you a letter. It asks who is teaching, where, who is in charge, and the students' names. If that letter comes, you write back with those four answers. That is it.
  • Limits: none on how many students, and none on fees. The statute's four-unrelated-students cap and its no-tuition rule were struck by 2026 HF 2754, Division XIII, section 97, effective on enactment. The printed 2026 statute book still shows them. What remains: not accredited, a private or religious-based purpose, the four subject areas in every grade, and the letter answered on request (§ 299A.1(2)(b)).
  • Tests: nobody tests your kids.
  • School days: no set number to count.
  • You teach: math, reading and language arts, science, and social studies, in every grade.
  • Your kids can still: take driver's ed at the district, and in grades 9 through 12 take college-credit classes through the district with no tuition. A district may charge the same incidental fees an enrolled student pays. Iowa Code § 261E.8(2)(a) says so. Students “receiving competent private instruction or independent private instruction under chapter 299A may access the program through the school district” where they are located. No district contract is needed. You can ask the district for the yearly test if you want it. Ask your district what that test costs, if anything.
  • Your kids cannot: take regular classes, join teams, get special education help, or use Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) or Advanced Placement through the district.
  • Pathway 1 or Pathway 2? Neither one reports to anyone routinely. Pathway 1 is the one that lets you teach children who are not your own, and charge for it if you choose. The old four-student cap and no-fee rule are gone since HF 2754 (2026). It is also the one that answers the who-is-teaching letter, if that letter ever comes.
Pathway 2: Teach on your own, with no routine questions (CPI with no reporting)
Pick this if you want no papers, no tests, and no routine questions.
  • You send in: nothing. And unlike Pathway 1, there is no report to answer. The law gives the school and the state no routine way to ask who is teaching, where, or your kids' names. This is Iowa's most private pathway. (A genuine truancy investigation is a different matter, as it is for every family everywhere.)
  • Tests: none.
  • You teach: math, reading and language arts, science, and social studies, in every grade.
  • School days: no count is owed or sent to anyone. Does Pathway 2 owe 148 days? Step 5 shows where the count sits in the statute. The state's education department reads the count as covering every CPI pathway anyway, and Form A asks for it. Keep a quiet 148-day calendar to be safe; it is not a duty.
  • Your kids can still: take driver's ed at the district, and take the yearly test if you ask the district for it. Ask your district what that test costs, if anything. College-credit classes in grades 9 through 12 are a mixed picture. The statute names every competent-private-instruction student as able to reach concurrent-enrollment classes through the district (§ 261E.8(2)(a)). The Department's handbook routes a CPI family to those classes, and to PSEO and AP, through dual enrollment, which means Form A. Ask your district which reading it follows before you count on it. No shot records or lead-test papers are filed while you use this pathway.
  • Your kids cannot: take regular classes, join teams, get special education help, borrow school materials, join the district homeschool program, or open enroll.
  • Pathway 1 or Pathway 2? Neither one reports to anyone routinely. Pick Pathway 2 if you are teaching your own children. If anyone ever asks, you tell the district you are CPI with no reporting.
Pathway 3: Teach on your own and send in paperwork (CPI with reporting and annual assessment)
Pick this if you want your child in a class, on a team, in the band, or getting special education help.
  • You send in: a paper called Form A, to your resident district, by September 1, including an outline of what you will teach or the books you will use. Starting midyear instead: file as fully as you can within 14 days, and complete it within 30.
  • School days: at least 148, with at least 37 each quarter.
  • Tests: once a year, a child of compulsory age (usually six, and not yet sixteen, on September 15) gets checked. Three ways count: a test, a folder of their work reviewed by a licensed teacher, or an accredited correspondence school's report card. The check is done by May 31. Results go to the district by August 1. The district or area education agency (AEA) gives the test free when it is required. Other guides still list seven as the starting age for testing; that is out of date. Iowa's homeschool rules were rewritten in July 2024, and the current rule sets no starting age for the yearly check.
  • You can dual enroll: Request dual enrollment on Form A for public school classes, activities and sports, or special education services. Special education: ask for it on the same Form A, by requesting dual enrollment. Iowa Code § 299A.9 says the “parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child who is identified as requiring special education may request dual enrollment pursuant to section 299A.8,” with services set under chapter 256B.
  • Also: the first time a child is under CPI, the statute asks for shot records or an exemption. It also asks for a blood-lead test for an elementary-age child, and the health department allows waivers, including religious ones. The printed form's own health item asks only for immunization papers, and only from families dual enrolling or when an HSAP requires them. When in doubt, ask your district in writing.
Pathway 4: A licensed teacher does the teaching (CPI with a licensed practitioner)
Pick this if an Iowa-licensed teacher teaches your child or watches over it. That can be you, if your license fits your child's grade; Iowa Code § 299A.2 and 281 IAC 31.3(1)“c” describe the license and retained-practitioner rules.
  • You send in: Form A to your resident district by September 1.
  • School days: at least 148, with at least 37 each quarter.
  • The license rule: the license must be appropriate to the ages and grade levels of the children to be taught (Iowa Code § 299A.2). A retained practitioner needs a license appropriate to the student's grade level (281 IAC 31.3(1)“c”).
  • Tests: the yearly check does not apply. The state figures a licensed teacher is already keeping track. The teacher meets your child and you at least twice every 45 days of instruction (281 IAC 31.3(1)“c”(1)). Half of those visits are in person.
  • You can dual enroll: Request dual enrollment on Form A for public school classes, activities and sports, or special education services.
Pathway 5: Join your district's homeschool program (CPI through a home school assistance program, HSAP)
Pick this if you want a licensed teacher from the district beside you through the year.
  • What it is: a licensed program teacher checks in at least four times every 45 days of instruction (281 IAC 31.6). Forty-five days of instruction is about nine weeks. Half of those visits are in person. Many programs lend materials and run classes and field trips.
  • You send in: Form A through the program by September 15. Planning to dual enroll? Then it is September 1.
  • School days: at least 148, with at least 37 each quarter.
  • Tests: no state test rule; the program can set its own conditions, and those are the program's rules, not the state's.
  • You can dual enroll: Request dual enrollment on Form A for public school classes, activities and sports, or special education services.
  • Watch out: not every district runs one, so ask yours early. Joining another district's program takes open enrollment, due March 1 of the year before (incoming kindergartners get until September 1). Those are open enrollment dates only; the ask to the program itself is still September 15. And the program alone does not get your child into classes, sports, or special education; those still take Form A by September 1.

The short version, worth thinking about once a year: Pathways 1 and 2 give the most privacy but limit the school resources available. Pathways 3, 4 and 5 have more oversight but open the doors to school assistance.

Definitions: Iowa Code § 299A.1 · the parent-led reporting duties, which Pathway 3 opts into: § 299A.3

2Know who is of compulsory attendance age

School is required for a child who is six and not yet sixteen on September 15. Turns six after September 15? They start the following school year.

Already enrolled a five-year-old? Send a written withdrawal note
Keeping them home is not enough; the same rule covers a four-year-old in the statewide preschool program.

The catch that surprises families: an enrolled five-year-old. A five-year-old who is signed up at a district school counts as required to attend until you send the district a written note that you are removing the child. Just keeping them home is not enough. Date the note, name the last day of attendance, and keep proof you sent it. The same rule covers a four-year-old in the statewide preschool program.

Turning sixteen. A student who is already sixteen by September 15 generally falls outside the compulsory-age definition and may finish that year on the family's own terms. A student who turns sixteen on or after September 15 stays compulsory age. For a child enrolled in a district or accredited nonpublic school the statute says so outright. The child “remains of compulsory age until the end of the regular school calendar” (§ 299.1A(1)). Department guidance reads a home-instructed child's duty the same way, to the end of that school year rather than the birthday.

Past sixteen but still want district classes, teams or sports?
Form A by September 1 still opens the door; the yearly evaluation no longer applies.

Past sixteen but still want the school's help? The duties end; the doorways stay open. A student under 21 who has not finished can still join district classes, activities, or sports. Dual enrollment is open to a “school-age child” under competent private instruction (§ 299A.8(1)). School age runs from five to twenty-one (§ 282.1(1)). Yes, that still takes Form A by September 1. The yearly evaluation no longer applies to a student past compulsory age.

Trellis stores no birth dates, so every age question on this page stays yours to judge.

Compulsory age: Iowa Code § 299.1A

3File Form A, if your pathway files

Form A goes to your resident public school district on or before September 1, one form per child, every school year. Not filed, or filed incomplete? § 299A.1(1) covers it. A parent “who otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter, is subject to the provisions of sections 299.1 through 299.4 and the penalties provided in section 299.6”, the truancy section. In plain terms: failing to file puts you under the truancy law's penalties. On Pathway 5 it goes through your assistance program instead, by September 15. Asking to dual enroll puts that child back on September 1, to the district. Trellis fills the official form for you. In a Trellis account, Prepare beside each child fills the Department's own PDF with your answers, for you to check every line, print and sign. The state's blank copy cannot be typed into; Trellis draws your answers onto it and adds nothing else. Starting midyear instead? File as fully as you can within 14 days, and complete it within 30 days. The blank official form (PDF) stays here for reference.

A family using Trellis can also print an optional Outline of Course of Study from your plan, an attachment that answers Form A's own outline request. It carries no signature; only the official form is signed. Trellis does not file Form A for you, and it stores no confirmation that the district received it.

The dates
September 1, September 15, and who owes which.
  • September 1: Form A is due, on or before, on Pathways 3 and 4.
  • September 15: this date belongs to Pathway 5, and it carries two things. It is the date for asking to join a Home School Assistance Program. It is also the date a child already in one files their own Form A, through the program.
  • Dual enrolling moves that child: a Pathway 5 family asking to dual enroll files by September 1, to the district. The dual-enrollment request is September 1 on every pathway.
  • The mix-up: September 15 is not the Form A date for anyone outside Pathway 5. Reading it as everyone's date, or reading September 1 as everyone's date, are the same mistake pointed two ways.
  • Starting midyear: Department guidance says to submit the form as fully as possible within 14 days of leaving an accredited school or moving in, and to complete it within 30 days.
  • Where it goes: your resident district, ordinarily in duplicate; the district keeps one copy and forwards one to the area education agency. On Pathway 5 it goes through your program, and the program sends it on. Do not send it to the Department of Education unless a specific Department instruction tells you to.
What the form asks for
The statute's list is short; the printed form asks for more.
  • The child's name and age, and the period of the school year the child will be under competent private instruction.
  • Either an outline of the course of study or the texts you will use. 2026's House File 2754 (HF 2754) changed that from "and" to "or".
  • The instructor's name and address.
  • For a child under competent private instruction for the first time: evidence of required immunization, plus a blood-lead test for an elementary-age child. Need a certificate or an exemption? Iowa HHS's vaccines page keeps all four current forms, including the religious exemption certificate. Step 4 links each one directly.
  • The district's printed form usually asks for more, including a stated number of instruction days and a subject-by-subject table. Fill the questions about the program's services carefully. A field you believe goes beyond the statute is worth asking the district about in writing, never worth guessing at.
Form A, the official PDF · The report: Iowa Code § 299.4 · 2026 HF 2754, Division XIII · Department homeschooling page

4Send immunization paperwork with Form A

When immunization paperwork is required, send it with Form A. Use the official Iowa HHS form that fits your child.

First time filing? Attach the child's immunization certificate or exemption when your CPI pathway asks for it. The printed Form A's health item names it for dual-enrolling and HSAP families; attaching it the first time you file with a district costs nothing and settles the question.

Using an exemption?
Who signs each one, and what it does not need.
  • Medical exemption: completed and signed by an Iowa-licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician associate.
  • Religious exemption: a parent or guardian may sign it, where immunization conflicts with a genuine and sincere religious belief.
  • Neither exemption has to be notarized.
Blood lead testing is separate
Do not put the test result in with Form A.

On Pathways 1 and 2 (IPI and CPI with no reporting), none of this applies. Neither one files anything routinely, so no immunization paperwork goes to the district either.

The printed form's own health item asks for immunization papers only from families dual enrolling, or where an HSAP requires them. When your district's copy asks for more than the statute does, ask them about it in writing.

Immunization evidence with the report: Iowa Code § 299.4 · Iowa HHS vaccines and immunizations

5Count the days, if your pathway counts them

Families who file Form A do school on at least 148 days a year, with at least 37 in each quarter. The statute writes that count into its definition of CPI under a licensed practitioner, Pathways 4 and 5 (§ 299A.1(2)(a)(1)). Parent-led CPI, Pathway 3, is defined only by pointing to § 299A.3. That section names a report, an evaluation and an August 1 date, and no day count. The Department's handbook applies the 148 days to every CPI option, and Form A item 8 asks for the number (“minimum 148 required”). That is why the count above appears for Pathways 3, 4 and 5 and no one else.

  • You set the quarters. Iowa does not. Pick four real quarters in a row near the start of the year and do at least 37 days in each. What is not allowed: packing 148 days into two big blocks. Simplest version: days 1 to 37, 38 to 74, 75 to 111, and 112 to 148.
  • A day counts once, no matter how many subjects it holds. These all count when real learning is the point: lessons, lab work, an educational field trip, a co-op class, music, and supervised online work. Each day belongs to one school year only.
  • Switched from school partway through the year?
    Days already attended at school can count toward the 148; ask the district in writing if it is close.

    Switched from school partway through the year? The days your child already attended at that school can count toward the 148. If your total will be close, ask the district in writing.

  • Who has no day rule: Pathway 1 (IPI) has none at all. The public schools' 180 days and 1,080 hours are not homeschool rules for anyone. On Pathway 2 (CPI with no reporting) the statute names no day duty; the Department nonetheless reads the 148-day rule as covering this pathway too, so keep a quiet calendar. Keeping a quiet 148-day calendar is careful practice, nothing more, and Trellis shows no target for it.

Trellis counts a day from your Calendar, Learning Log, and Reading Log. It can only count what you record, so the number above is a floor under your real teaching, not a verdict on it.

§ 299A.1(2)(a)(1), the licensed-practitioner definition · § 299A.3, the parent-led duties · Department handbook, August 2026: 148 days for all CPI; Form A item 8

6The annual evaluation, on Pathway 3 only

Only Pathway 3, CPI with reporting, requires the yearly test. It reaches a child of compulsory age, which is six and not yet sixteen on September 15. Past compulsory age, no yearly test applies.

Finish the check by May 31. Send the results by August 1.

The other four pathways require no yearly test. Those are Pathway 1 (IPI), Pathway 2 (CPI with no reporting), Pathway 4 (a licensed practitioner) and Pathway 5 (an HSAP). You can still ask your district for a test, or pay for one privately. A Home School Assistance Program may test as its own program rule, and that is the program's rule, not the state's.

Other guides still say seven as the starting age for required testing. Iowa's homeschool rules were rewritten in July 2024, and the current rule sets no starting age for the yearly check. 281 IAC 31.4(1), effective July 17, 2024, says “Each child receiving competent private instruction will be evaluated annually by May 31.” Age seven still matters once. § 299A.4(2) covers a one-time baseline: “A child, who is seven years of age and is receiving competent private instruction or who is placed under competent private instruction for the first time, shall be administered an evaluation for purposes of obtaining educational baseline data.” In plain terms: the first time a child starts under private instruction at seven, they get a one-time baseline test. That baseline is in addition to the yearly check, not in place of it.

  • Done, completed by May 31. The check itself happens by then. Watch publisher turnaround times; a test taken in June is already late.
  • Sent by August 1. The form and results go to your resident district. Two dates, two different jobs.
Three ways to do the check. Pick one.
A standardized test, a portfolio review, or an accredited correspondence school.
  • A standardized test. Finish it by May 31. Send the results by August 1. Take it from the state's approved list. Adequate progress means above the 30th percentile. It also means either six months of progress since the last check, or work at or above grade level for the child's age. That is § 299A.6's own definition (“evaluation scores which are above the thirtieth percentile, nationally normed…and which indicate either…six months' progress from the previous evaluation…or that the child is at or above grade level”). It covers reading, math, and language arts at every grade, adding science and social studies from grade six. That is the test's scope, not your subject list: the four subjects are taught in every grade on every pathway. Check the current approved list before you buy. Using a test that is not on the list? Ask first, with the Department's request form.
  • A portfolio review. Finish it by May 31. Send the teacher's report by August 1. A licensed Iowa teacher you pick, with the superintendent's approval, looks it over: lesson plans or a written record, a folder of the child's work, and any tests you gave along the way. The reviewer's report goes to you, the district, and the Department. A good report means the child is presumed on track.
  • An accredited correspondence school. Send the report card or transcript by August 1, listing subjects and grades. Not every online curriculum company qualifies, so check.

The district or area education agency gives the test free when a family who must test asks for it. Testing alone is not dual enrollment. Record the result in your assessment records when it is done; the score paper stays with you.

Evaluation and the 30th percentile: Iowa Code § 299A.6(4) · Who is evaluated each year, and the baseline: Iowa Code § 299A.4 · Compulsory age is six: Iowa Code § 299.1A

7Your own records are the whole story

This is the honest shape of Iowa: on Pathways 1 and 2 nothing is routinely filed with anyone. No state file exists to vouch for you. That means your own records are the entire record if a question ever comes, years later, from a district, a college, or an employer.

Worth keeping, whatever the pathway:

  • a short note of the pathway you chose for each child, and the year you chose it;
  • your curriculum by subject, with the texts and resources named;
  • the day calendar, where your pathway counts days;
  • samples of work from across the year, not only from the best week;
  • evaluations, evaluator reports, and correspondence with the district, where those exist; and
  • your withdrawal letter and proof of delivery, if the child left a school.

High-school records are permanent records. In plain terms: since 2026 a diploma or transcript you issue counts like a district's, for college, jobs and licenses. Iowa Code § 299A.13 (in the chapter 299A PDF; the section has no page of its own yet) says the parent or instructor “may issue a diploma, final transcript, or other written documentation”. That documentation “shall be accepted under the laws of this state in the same manner as” a school district's. It covers college admission, employment, licensure and state programs, with no equivalency diploma required (HF 2754, Division XIII, applying to diplomas issued before, on or after its effective date). In plain terms: your diploma and transcript are treated like a district's, for any of those purposes. Colleges, employers, and licensing boards accept them like any school's. You issue the diploma yourselves. No government office signs it, approves it, or needs to: the law already gave it standing.

Trellis builds the paper trail as you go. Your Calendar is the schedule. Imported curriculum is the materials list. The Gradebook and Learning Log show the work. The High School planner is where the transcript lives. You can export everything anytime.

If someone actually asks for proof, hand over the child's Year Summary. That is the ready-to-hand-over summary. The Full Record is the every-line version.

Diploma and transcript recognition: Iowa Code § 299A.13, added by 2026 HF 2754

Questions Iowa families ask

Do I have to notify the school district to homeschool in Iowa?

Show answer
Only on Pathways 3, 4 and 5, with Form A. On Pathway 1 (independent private instruction) and Pathway 2 (competent private instruction with no reporting) nothing is filed routinely. Iowa Code § 299A.1 and Iowa Code § 299A.3.

When is Form A due?

Show answer
On or before September 1 to your resident district on Pathways 3 and 4. On Pathway 5 it goes through the program by September 15, or September 1 if you are asking to dual enroll. Starting midyear, Department guidance says within 14 days of leaving an accredited school or moving in.

How many days are required?

Show answer
At least 148 a year, with at least 37 in each quarter, for families who file Form A. Pathway 1 has no day rule at all. The public schools' 180 days and 1,080 hours are not homeschool rules for anyone. Iowa Code § 299A.1(2)(a)(1).

Is testing required?

Show answer
Only on Pathway 3, competent private instruction with reporting, for a child of compulsory age: finished by May 31, sent by August 1, by a standardized test above the 30th percentile, a portfolio review by a licensed Iowa teacher, or an accredited correspondence school. The district or area education agency gives the test free on request. Iowa Code § 299A.6(4).

Do I have to send immunization records?

Show answer
Two things are true at once, and step 4 keeps them apart. The statute asks for evidence of immunization with the report the first time a child is under competent private instruction (Iowa Code § 299.4). The state's printed Form A asks for the papers only from families dual enrolling or in a home school assistance program. Send the Iowa certificate of immunization, or a medical or religious exemption, whenever your pathway or your district's form asks; Pathways 1 and 2 send nothing. Blood lead testing is checked by the district with Iowa HHS, not attached.

What ages does this cover?

Show answer
A child who is six and not yet sixteen on September 15. A five-year-old enrolled in a district school counts until you send the district a written notice removing them. Iowa Code § 299.1A.

Does Iowa issue a homeschool diploma?

Show answer
No state diploma, and none is needed. Since 2026, Iowa Code § 299A.13 (HF 2754, Division XIII) says the parent or instructor “may issue a diploma, final transcript, or other written documentation” and that it “shall be accepted under the laws of this state in the same manner as” one from a school district or accredited nonpublic school, for college admission, employment, licensure and state programs; no equivalency diploma is required, and the section covers diplomas issued before it passed. The Department's page still notes that a district decides whether to issue its own diploma; that is the district's diploma, which yours does not need. What colleges read a transcript against is on the Iowa high school and transcript page.

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