Percentage of school-age children who were homeschooled, ages 5 through 17 with a grade equivalent of kindergarten through grade 12, by reasons parents gave as important and most important for homeschooling and race and ethnicity: 2015–16

	Total		White, non Hispanic			Black, non Hispanic				Hispanic				Asian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic			Other, non-Hispanic¹
	Important²	Most important	Important²	Most important		Important²		Most important		Important²		Most important		Important²		Most important	Important²		Most important
A desire to provide religious instruction	51	16	65	21		33	!	‡		28		7	!	46	!	‡	46		‡
A desire to provide moral instruction	67	5	79	6	!	53		‡		47		‡		39	!	‡	68		‡
A concern about environment of other schools³	80	34	85	28		54		32	!	79		48		53	!	‡	89		34
A dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools	61	17	69	19		47		15	!	44		11	!	46	!	‡	82		36
A desire to provide a nontraditional approach to child’s education	39	6	47	8		30	!	‡		24		‡		‡		‡	43		‡
Child has other special needs	20	6	21	4		18	!	12	!	17		7	!	‡		‡	32	!	‡
Child has a physical or mental health problem	14	6	14	5		‡		‡		14		9	!	‡		‡	23	!	‡
Child has a temporary illness	4	‡	3	‡		‡		‡		4	!	‡		‡		‡	‡		‡
Other reasons⁴	22	11	18	9		31	!	25	!	28		14	!	‡		‡	25	!	‡

! Interpret data with caution; coefficient of variation is between 30 and 50 percent.

‡ Reporting standards not met. There were too few cases for a reliable estimate.

¹ "Other, non-Hispanic" includes American Indian and Alaska Native children who are not Hispanic and children reported as a race/ethnicity not listed.

² Respondents could choose more than one reason.

³ Based on the response to the question, "You are concerned about the school environment, such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure?"

⁴ Parents homeschool their children for many reasons that are often unique to their family situation. "Other reasons" parents gave for homeschooling include family time, finances, travel, and a more flexible schedule.

NOTE: Homeschooled students are school-age children who receive instruction at home instead of at a public or private school either all or most of the time. Excludes students who were enrolled in public or private school more than 25 hours per week and students who were homeschooled only because of temporary illness.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), 2016.