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🎓 Illinois School Choice, ESAs & Scholarships

Which Illinois education savings accounts, scholarships and tax credits a homeschool family can use, what they pay for, and where Illinois stands on school choice — from our Illinois guide.

Overseen by	No state office registers or approves home schools. ISBE publishes guidance but does not review homeschool programs or recommend materials. The regional superintendent of schools for the family's county has first-line responsibility for investigating reports that a child isn't complying with the compulsory attendance law, and may ask the regional or district truant officer to investigate.
Legal basis	A home school is a private school. 105 ILCS 5/26-1 exempts from public school attendance any child attending a private school where children are taught the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public schools, in the English language. ISBE adds that the education must be at least equivalent to that offered in public schools (People v. Levisen, 1950). Compulsory ages: 6 (on or before September 1) to 17.
Instruction required	Six subject areas, in English: language arts; mathematics; biological and physical science; social science; fine arts; and physical development and health (105 ILCS 5/26-1 and 27-1). ISBE says no specific classes are required and there are no requirements for the number of school days or the length of a school day.
Notice, testing and records	No registration or notice is required by the state; ISBE no longer collects homeschool forms. ISBE recommends a dated letter telling the public school you're withdrawing your child to homeschool. No tests are required, and you don't submit grades or work to anyone. There are no specific recordkeeping requirements, but ISBE strongly encourages good records.
Diplomas	The parent decides grade progression and graduation; ISBE gives no guidance and doesn't accredit programs. A home-schooled student has no right to a public school diploma or graduation ceremony without enrolling full time and meeting all graduation requirements. The GED or HiSET plus the Illinois Constitution requirement leads to a State of Illinois High School Diploma (ICCB).
K-12 Education Expense Credit (tax year 2025)	Nonrefundable state income tax credit of 25% of qualifying expenses over the first 50, up to $750 per family regardless of how many students (tax year 2025; the Governor and IDOR repeated the $750 maximum for 2026). For full-time K-12 students under 21 at the end of the school year; parent and student must be Illinois residents. Not allowed if adjusted gross income is over $500,000 (married filing jointly) or 50,000 (all other returns). Claimed on Schedule ICR with Form IL-1040.
School choice status	As of November 2026, Illinois has no state-funded or state tax-credit private school choice program. Invest in Kids (75% tax credit for scholarship donations, 2017) expired December 31, 2023; five bills to reenact it (SB 261, HB 1342, HB 2649, HB 3147 and SB 3793) were each referred to a rules or assignments committee and have gone no further. Illinois is not on the IRS list of states participating in the federal scholarship tax credit for 2027 (as of October 22, 2026); SB 3776, which would opt Illinois in, has sat in Senate Assignments since February 5, 2026.

Where Illinois stands on school choice (November 2026)

Invest in Kids (2017–2023): Public Act 100-0465 created the Invest in Kids Act, which gave a 75 percent income tax credit to individuals and businesses that contributed to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). The SGOs gave scholarships to students whose families met income requirements, to attend qualified non-public schools and technical academies in Illinois. Public Act 102-0016 extended it to tax years ending before January 1, 2024. The Department of Revenue says the program expired December 31, 2023; contributions made after that date are not eligible for a credit, though unused credits from earlier contributions may be carried forward for five tax years.

Bills to bring it back: SB 261 (filed January 24, 2025), HB 1342 (filed January 14, 2025), HB 2649 (filed February 4, 2025), HB 3147 (filed February 6, 2025) and SB 3793 (filed February 5, 2026) would each reenact the Invest in Kids Act and make it permanent. As of November 7, 2026, each one's last action on the General Assembly's bill status file is its referral to the House Rules Committee or the Senate Committee on Assignments.

The federal scholarship tax credit: beginning January 1, 2027, individual taxpayers may be able to claim a federal credit of up to

,700 ($3,400 if filing jointly) for certain cash gifts to SGOs, but only after a state elects to take part and gives the IRS a list of its SGOs. Illinois is not on the IRS list of states that have elected to participate for 2027 (as of October 22, 2026). SB 3776, the Educational Choice for Children Act filed February 5, 2026, would have the General Assembly elect to participate and require ISBE to submit and publish the list of SGOs; its last action is its February 5, 2026 referral to Senate Assignments. We found no announcement of a decision on the Governor's or the Department of Revenue's websites as of November 7, 2026.

Homeschools: Invest in Kids paid scholarships for non-public schools and technical academies, not home education, and no Illinois program pays homeschool costs directly today. The K-12 Education Expense Credit is the only state benefit for homeschool spending, and it comes back as a smaller tax bill after the year ends.

Public options are public school, not homeschooling: districts may offer remote educational programs to their own enrolled students under 105 ILCS 5/10-29, and the Illinois Virtual Course Program partners with schools to provide online middle and high school courses, with public school districts able to request reimbursement from ISBE. ISBE says Illinois has no free online public school option.

We make no prediction about 2027 legislation or about whether Illinois will opt into the federal credit.

Read the full section in our Illinois guide

Official sources

Summarized from our Illinois guide (as of November 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.

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