South Carolina Homeschool Laws: Three Pathways and Requirements

South Carolina homeschool laws give you three legal pathways: apply to your local school district under Option 1, join the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools (SCAIHS) under Option 2, or join any qualifying association with at least 50 member families under Option 3. All three require a 180-day school year, the same core subjects, and a teaching parent with at least a high school diploma or GED. Beyond that, the oversight, testing, and paperwork you face depend entirely on which pathway you choose.

Compulsory attendance covers your child from the school year in which they turn five before September 1 until they turn 17 or graduate.¹ If your child will not turn six by September 1, you can sign a written election with the district to opt out of kindergarten. Homeschooling satisfies the attendance law as long as you comply with your chosen pathway.

The Three Pathways

Option 1: Local School District Approval

You apply to the board of trustees in your school district. The board must approve your program if you meet the statutory standards: detailed records, semiannual progress reports submitted to the district, library access for your child, at least 4.5 instructional hours per day, and annual statewide testing administered by a certified district employee.² You also sign a hold-harmless agreement releasing the district from liability for educational gaps. If the district finds problems with your program, it must give you 30 days to correct them before pulling approval.

Option 2: SCAIHS

SCAIHS is a private oversight body named directly in the statute. Joining SCAIHS and following its academic standards exempts you from all Option 1 requirements, including district-supervised testing.³ The Department of Education reviews SCAIHS annually to confirm its standards meet minimum thresholds for parent qualifications, instructional days, and curriculum. SCAIHS sets its own rules for recordkeeping and assessments. Membership starts around $385 per year.

Option 3: Association With at Least 50 Members

You can also homeschool through any association that has at least 50 member families. As with SCAIHS, membership exempts you from Option 1’s district oversight and testing. The statute is more specific about paperwork under this option than under Option 2: you must keep a plan book or diary, a portfolio of student work, and semiannual progress reports covering attendance and academic progress in each required subject.⁴ Associations vary widely, from tightly structured programs to loose groupings. Annual fees typically run from about $40 to $400.

Who Can Teach

All three options require the teaching parent or guardian to hold at least a high school diploma or GED. Option 1 adds one requirement: if you do not have a bachelor’s degree, you must pass the state’s basic skills examination, originally developed for college students entering education programs.² Parents with a bachelor’s degree skip that test. Options 2 and 3 require no exam beyond the diploma or GED.³

No pathway requires a teaching license. If a parent does not meet the minimum educational requirement, the law provides no exemption. Some families in that situation use accredited online private schools or hire a tutor, though under South Carolina’s framework the primary instructional responsibility must stay with the parent or guardian.

What You Must Teach

Every pathway requires the same minimum curriculum: reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. Starting in seventh grade, add composition and literature.² The statute says the curriculum must “include, but is not limited to” these subjects, so you can add anything else that fits your child.

South Carolina does not dictate textbooks, methods, or curriculum providers, and you do not submit lesson plans for approval. Individual associations may impose extra curriculum expectations on their members.

Days, Hours, and Records

All three pathways require 180 instructional days per year. Option 1 adds a daily minimum of 4.5 hours of instruction, not counting lunch or recess.⁵ Options 2 and 3 set no minimum daily schedule.⁶

Options 1 and 3 both require you to keep three things: a plan book or diary showing subjects taught and activities completed, a portfolio of your child’s academic work, and semiannual progress reports documenting attendance and progress in each required subject. The key difference is where those reports go. Option 1 families submit them to the school district and must make records available for district inspection on reasonable notice. Option 3 families keep them in their own files.² SCAIHS sets its own recordkeeping policies, which may differ from what the statute spells out. Paper or digital, the format doesn’t matter as long as it shows consistent instruction.

Testing

Testing is where the pathways separate most sharply. Option 1 requires annual standardized testing. Your child must participate in the statewide testing program and the Basic Skills Assessment Program for their grade level, and a certified school district employee must administer the test, either at a public school site or by arrangement at your home. If you choose home administration, you pay the administrator’s cost.² The South Carolina Department of Education confirms that only Option 1 students are eligible for these state-administered assessments.⁷

Options 2 and 3 are not subject to state-mandated testing. SCAIHS may require its own assessments as a condition of membership, and individual Option 3 associations may do the same. Many families under these options voluntarily use nationally normed tests like the Iowa Assessments, Stanford 10, or TerraNova to benchmark progress, but the state does not require it.

How to Enroll

For Option 1, contact the board of trustees of your local district for its homeschool application. The board must approve your program if it meets the statutory standards.² If the board rejects your application, you can appeal to the State Board of Education within 10 days, and then to family court within 30 days.

For Options 2 and 3, enroll directly with SCAIHS or a qualifying association. Both SCAIHS and Option 3 associations must report the number and grade level of their homeschooled students to each child’s school district by January 30 each year.⁶ That reporting is the association’s job, not yours. If you’re pulling your child from public school, notify the current school and begin the application or enrollment process before you start home instruction.

What Happens if You Fall Out of Compliance

Under Option 1, the district must give you written notice of any deficiencies and 30 days to correct them. Fail to fix them and the district can withdraw approval.² Under Options 2 and 3, your association handles compliance internally and can revoke your membership, which leaves you without a legal basis to homeschool.

Once a child is not enrolled in any approved program, compulsory attendance law applies. A parent or guardian who fails to enroll a child or ensure attendance faces a fine of up to $50 or up to 30 days in jail for each day of absence, with each day a separate offense. The court can suspend the sentence. If the district cannot secure attendance, it must report the matter to the juvenile court or another court with jurisdiction over juveniles.⁸ Beyond legal exposure, missing or incomplete records make transitions to public or private school harder, since those schools rely on transcripts and attendance documentation for grade placement.

Diplomas and Transcripts

South Carolina does not issue diplomas to homeschooled students. You create the diploma and transcript yourself. The state’s Commission on Higher Education has confirmed that parent-signed transcripts are acceptable for admissions and scholarships at state institutions. If your student needs a class rank for admissions or scholarships, your homeschool association may need to issue and sign the transcript instead. A useful transcript lists course names, grades, credits earned, and a cumulative GPA, and many colleges also expect a course description supplement for nontraditional classes.

Federal Student Aid and Social Security

Homeschooled students qualify for federal student aid, including Pell Grants and federal loans, but not because they hold a diploma. They qualify by having completed secondary school in a homeschool setting as defined by state law.⁹ Because South Carolina’s statutes explicitly define homeschooling, students who finish under any of the three options meet that standard, and colleges can rely on the student’s self-certification. No federal income tax credit or deduction currently applies to K–12 homeschool expenses; the American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits both require postsecondary enrollment.¹⁰

If your family receives Social Security survivor or disability benefits, a child’s benefits normally stop at 18, but continue to age 19 or graduation if the child stays a full-time elementary or secondary student. The Social Security Administration recognizes homeschool programs for this purpose when the student is scheduled to attend at least 20 hours per week in a course lasting at least 13 weeks and carries a full-time subject load.¹¹ Benefits can continue through summer breaks of four months or less if the student was full-time before the break and plans to return. If the student turns 19 in a month when not attending, benefits end the month before the birthday.

Special Education

Federal law requires every state and school district to identify and evaluate children who may need special education services, including homeschooled children. If your child has a disability or suspected learning difference, your district must still evaluate on request. What services a district actually provides to non-enrolled students varies, so contact your district early to learn what’s available and whether an Individualized Education Program can be developed.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 59 Chapter 65 – Section 59-65-10
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 59-65-40 – Home Schooling Programs
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 59 Chapter 65 – Section 59-65-45
4
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 59 Chapter 65 – Section 59-65-47
5
U.S. Department of Education. South Carolina State Regulation of Private and Home Schools
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 59 Chapter 65 – Sections 59-65-45 and 59-65-47
7
South Carolina Department of Education. Frequently Asked Home School Questions
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 59 Chapter 65 – Section 59-65-50
9
Federal Student Aid Knowledge Center. School-Determined Requirements
10
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Credits and Deductions for Education
11
Social Security Administration. Frequently Asked Questions – Students