Homeschooling: The Fastest-Growing Form of Education in the U.S.

Aug. 24, 2010
Christian Newswire

It appears that in the U.S., homeschooling is the fastest-growing form of education, according to independent research conducted by organizations ranging from the National Home Education Research Institute (www.nheri.org), a nonprofit research and educational organization, to the federally funded National Center for Education Statistics (www.nces.ed.gov).

Let's take a look at some of the evidence:

•"Homeschooling grew from 1.7% of the school age population in 1999 to 2.9% in 2007, a 74% relative increase over 8 years," states Dr. Brian D. Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI).

•A 2008 study found that "an estimated 2.0 to 2.5 million K-12 children were home educated in the U.S. during mid-2008," statistics that were also confirmed by NCES.

•Last week, in their local news coverage, Chattanooga's News Channel 9 reported: "In the last decade, the number of homeschoolers has far more than doubled, according to the Department of Education" (WTVC-TV, August 13, 2010).

The increasing popularity of homeschooling should not come as a surprise. Homeschooling, a term referring to "parent-led, home-based education," is now bordering on "mainstream" in the United States. In a 2008 article, SaveMoneyHomeschooling.com stated: "If homeschooling continues to grow at 7–12% per year for the next 5 years, we could see the percent of homeschooling students increase to 5 million, which is about 10% of the total children in K-12 education." the rest