Homeschooling - A Broader Application

In 2002-2003, an estimated 1.7 to 2.1 million students in grades K-12 were homeschooled in the United States, according to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) (U.S. Department of Education research documented 1.1 million homeschooled students the same year).

Once considered an educational taboo found only in the homes of the religious and political pariahs, homeschooling has developed into a popular alternative to traditional education, perhaps because of its educational benefits—recent NHERI studies show that the average homeschooled student outperforms his public school peers by 30 to 37 percentage points across all subjects.

Citing its annual growth rate as 7 to 15 percent, NHERI president Dr. Brian Ray calls homeschooling “the fastest-growing form of education,” and these sharp increases mirror the equally dramatic rise in homeschool applicants to Harvard. More ...