Arizona Revised Statutes §15-802 governs home instruction. File an annual affidavit of intent with your county school superintendent (not your local district) within 30 days of starting and by September 1 each year thereafter. Provide instruction in five required subjects: reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies, and science. No standardized testing, no portfolio, no evaluator, no parent credential required. Compulsory school age runs from 6 through 16. Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) is available to all K-12 students and can provide approximately $7,000 per child per year for approved educational expenses. Apply at ade.az.gov.
Verified June 2026 · Arizona Revised Statutes §15-802 · Arizona Department of Education. Confirm current ESA amounts and requirements at ade.az.gov before relying on this for financial planning.
| Requirement | What Arizona Requires |
|---|---|
| Annual affidavit | Filed with county school superintendent (not local district) within 30 days of starting; renewed annually by September 1 |
| Parent credential | Not required |
| Required subjects | Reading; grammar; mathematics; social studies; science |
| Daily or yearly hours | Not specified in Arizona law |
| Testing | Not required |
| Portfolio | Not required |
| Evaluator | Not required |
| Compulsory age | 6 through 16 |
| High school diploma | Parent-issued |
| State funding | Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA): universal eligibility, approximately $7,000 per child per year; apply at ade.az.gov |
Arizona's Home Instruction Law
Arizona Revised Statutes §15-802 provides for home instruction as an alternative to public school attendance. The law is brief and the requirements are minimal: file an affidavit each year and teach five subjects. No credential is required to teach, no testing is mandated, and no government body evaluates or approves your program. Arizona's compulsory school age runs from 6 through 16. Children outside that window are not subject to the attendance law, though most families continue home instruction through high school graduation regardless.
The affidavit goes to your county school superintendent, not your local school district. In Maricopa County, that office is the Maricopa County School Superintendent. In Pima County, it is the Pima County School Superintendent. The distinction matters because the wrong office will not process your filing. Find your county's office through the Arizona Department of Education website at ade.az.gov.
Arizona's home instruction law is among the least burdensome in the country. You are not required to teach a set number of hours each day, your child is not required to demonstrate mastery of any subject at any particular level, and no state official has the authority to review or approve your curriculum. The law sets a floor, not a ceiling, and the floor is very low.
Filing the Annual Affidavit
When you first establish your home instruction program, file an affidavit of intent with the county school superintendent within 30 days of starting. After that first filing, renew the affidavit each year by September 1. The affidavit identifies you as the parent or guardian providing home instruction and identifies each child by name and date of birth.
Arizona does not provide a single mandated form for the affidavit. Most county superintendent offices have their own form available on their website, and most will also accept a written statement that includes the required identifying information. The filing takes about ten minutes and there is no fee. The county office does not approve or deny your filing. It receives and records it.
Keep a copy of every affidavit you file and any confirmation the county office provides. If you move to a different county during the school year, file a new affidavit with the new county superintendent's office as soon as possible. There is no formal grace period written into the law for mid-year moves, so prompt refiling keeps your records clean.
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Five Required Subjects
Arizona requires home instruction to cover five subjects: reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies, and science. The law does not define what constitutes adequate coverage of each subject, how many hours to spend on each, which textbooks to use, or what level of mastery to demonstrate. You choose the curriculum and structure the school day.
The five-subject list is one of the shorter required lists in the country. Most core curriculum packages address all five without any supplemental planning. A language arts program covers reading and grammar. A separate math program covers mathematics. Science and social studies are standard components of most home education curricula at every grade level.
The absence of subjects like history, civics, health, physical education, or fine arts from the required list does not mean you cannot teach them. It means Arizona does not mandate them. Most families teaching a full curriculum cover far more than the five subjects the law requires. Run a reading assessment before the school year begins to know exactly where your child stands in the subject that underpins everything else.
No Testing, No Portfolio, No Evaluator
Arizona law imposes no testing requirement on home instruction families. There is no annual standardized test to administer, no minimum score to achieve, and no results to file with any government body. There is no portfolio requirement and no annual evaluation by a third party. The compliance picture for Arizona home instruction is the affidavit plus the five subjects, and nothing more.
Families who want to assess their child's progress voluntarily have many options. Nationally standardized tests like the Iowa Assessments, Stanford Achievement Test, and CAT are available to home educators through testing services and co-ops. Many Arizona homeschool organizations coordinate group testing sessions each spring at reasonable cost. But these are choices the family makes for its own planning purposes, not obligations the law imposes.
Voluntary testing serves real purposes. For college-bound students, SAT and ACT scores matter regardless of what Arizona law requires. For younger students, annual testing gives you a clear record of progress that is useful both for your own planning and for the transcript you will build later. Arizona's ESA also covers standardized testing fees as an approved expense, which makes testing more accessible for participating families.
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Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account
Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account program is the most notable financial development for Arizona home instruction families in the state's history. Established under ARS §15-2401 and expanded by HB 2853 in 2022, the ESA is now available to every Arizona K-12 student regardless of household income, special needs status, or prior school enrollment. A student does not need to have been enrolled in a public school to qualify.
The ESA deposits state education funds directly into an account the family controls. The amount is based on approximately 90 percent of the state's per-pupil funding allocation, which has run around $7,000 per student per year. Verify the current year's amount at ade.az.gov before planning your budget around it, since the figure adjusts annually based on the state budget. The funds can be used for approved educational expenses including curriculum and textbooks, tutoring services, online learning programs, educational therapies for qualifying students, and standardized testing fees.
ESA funds cannot be used for non-educational expenses. The family must keep receipts and documentation for all expenditures and submit them through the Arizona Department of Education's online portal, ClassWallet. Participating in the ESA does not require you to stop providing home instruction or to change how you teach. The program funds your educational choices without adding regulatory requirements beyond basic spending documentation.
To apply, go to ade.az.gov and find the Empowerment Scholarship Account application. The program is administered by the Arizona Department of Education. There are application cycles and some processing time involved, so apply early in the school year rather than waiting until funds are needed. Once approved, expenses must be tracked and submitted through ClassWallet on a regular basis.
Withdrawing from an Arizona Public School
Send written notice to the school that you are withdrawing your child, then file your affidavit of intent with the county school superintendent within 30 days. The school updates its enrollment records. Keep copies of both your withdrawal letter and your affidavit filing.
If your child has an Individualized Education Program, mandatory special education services through the public school end at withdrawal. Some services may be available voluntarily through the district or through ESA-funded providers. Contact the district's special education office before withdrawing to understand what options remain and whether the ESA could fund private providers for any services your child currently receives.
High School, Transcripts, and Diplomas in Arizona
Arizona does not set graduation requirements or diploma standards for home instruction programs. You set your own criteria, issue the diploma when the student meets them, and create a transcript that documents the coursework. Parent-issued diplomas and transcripts from Arizona home instruction programs are accepted by Arizona's public universities, community colleges, employers, and licensing bodies.
Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University are experienced reviewing home instruction applications. Most ask for SAT or ACT scores from home-educated applicants alongside the parent-issued transcript. A clear, organized transcript listing course names, credit hours, and grades by year is the standard document. Some selective programs ask for course descriptions or syllabi alongside the transcript. Prepare those in advance if your student is applying to competitive schools.
Arizona's community colleges are accessible to home instruction graduates and often have direct, low-barrier admissions processes. Dual enrollment during high school is also available at many Arizona community colleges. Contact the specific institution for their requirements. The Homeschool Teacher Guide covers how to build a full high school plan that holds up to college review.
No State Funding Beyond the ESA
Outside the ESA program, Arizona has no additional voucher or subsidy for home instruction families. The ESA is the primary financial tool available, and for eligible families it is a substantial one. For families who choose not to participate in the ESA, all curriculum and material costs are the family's responsibility.
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A Note from Homeschool Teacher Guide: What This Really Means for You
Arizona gives home instruction families two things most states do not: an extremely simple compliance path and access to real state funding. The affidavit takes ten minutes. The five-subject requirement is met by any standard curriculum. And if you apply for the ESA, you have roughly $7,000 per year to spend on curriculum, tutoring, therapy, or other educational tools, without changing anything about how you teach or what oversight you face.
The one thing Arizona families underestimate is the ESA application window. Apply early, keep your receipts organized in ClassWallet from day one, and track what spending categories your expenses fall into. The spending documentation is the only real compliance task the ESA adds, and it is manageable if you stay current with it rather than trying to reconstruct months of receipts at the end of the year.
Arizona is a genuinely excellent state to homeschool in, and the ESA makes it more accessible to families at every income level. The combination of a minimal legal framework and direct state funding puts Arizona in a category of its own. If you are comparing states before a move, or if you are an Arizona family who has not yet applied for the ESA, this is the state and the program to know about.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where Do we File the Arizona Home Instruction Affidavit?
With your county school superintendent, not your local school district. Each Arizona county has its own school superintendent's office. Find your county's office and affidavit form at ade.az.gov or by searching for your county school superintendent. File within 30 days of starting and renew by September 1 each year.
What Subjects Does Arizona Require for Home Instruction?
Five subjects: reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies, and science. Arizona law does not specify textbooks, instructional methods, hours per subject, or grade-level benchmarks. You choose the curriculum and structure.
Does Arizona Require Standardized Testing for Home Instruction Students?
No. Arizona has no testing requirement, no portfolio requirement, and no evaluator requirement for home instruction families. Any testing you do is voluntary and the results stay with you.
What Is the Arizona ESA and Who Qualifies?
The Empowerment Scholarship Account is a state program that deposits education funds directly into a family-controlled account for approved educational expenses. As of 2022, the ESA is available to every Arizona K-12 student regardless of income or prior school history. The amount runs approximately $7,000 per student per year (verify the current year's figure at ade.az.gov). Funds can be used for curriculum, tutoring, educational therapy, online programs, and other approved expenses. Apply through the Arizona Department of Education at ade.az.gov.
Does Arizona Require a Parent to Have a Diploma or Credential to Provide Home Instruction?
No. Arizona's home instruction law does not require the teaching parent to hold a high school diploma, GED, teaching certificate, or any other credential. Any parent or guardian may provide home instruction by filing the annual affidavit and covering the five required subjects.
Sources
Arizona Revised Statutes §15-802, Instruction of Pupils at Home (Arizona Legislature)
Arizona Department of Education: Empowerment Scholarship Account Program
HSLDA: How to Comply with Arizona's Homeschool Law