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State guide

Microschools in Georgia

The legal pathways, operator types, funding programs and licensing agencies Georgia recognizes, with links to the state code and agency pages that set the rules.

Sources last checked August 25, 2026·24 sources, 9 from law and government·See every source

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Which operator model are you in Georgia?

Answer below. You get a ranked list of the operator models that fit here, what each would mean for you, and what would change the answer. A ranking of fits, not a licensing determination.

1. Who holds legal responsibility for each child's education?

Determines your operator model.

2. Ages served

Used for regulatory routing and market targeting.

3. Children with disabilities

May trigger state licensing requirements.

4. Days per week
5. Daily hours
6. Instructor credentials
7. Is your program's mission explicitly religious or faith-integrated?

Distinguishes a Religious Community School from a secular private school. Leave blank if it doesn't apply.

8. How will your program be accredited or authorized?

Operating under an established school's umbrella points to an Umbrella School Satellite. Leave blank if it doesn't apply.

9. How will your program be funded?

Some statutory micro-models require no tuition or no public funding. Leave blank if it doesn't apply.

10. How many students do you expect to serve?

Some statutory micro-models cap enrollment (for example, Iowa's 4-student Independent Private Instruction). Leave blank if it doesn't apply.

0 of 6 required questions answered.

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This is general information, not legal advice. We're not attorneys. Georgia law and agency rules change, and how they apply depends on how your school is built: the ages you serve, your hours, and who holds legal responsibility for each child's education. Before you open, read the state rules linked on this page, talk to the agencies that administer them, and get advice from a licensed attorney in Georgia.

Compulsory attendance

Legal pathways Georgia recognizes

How a family satisfies compulsory attendance outside public school. Your operator type maps to one of these, and the statute linked on each card is what defines it.

Home Instruction

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(c)

A parent may provide home study to satisfy compulsory attendance. Instructor must hold a high school diploma or GED.

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Read the source:law.justia.com ↗gadoe.org ↗

Learning Pod

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(f) (Learning Pod Protection)

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Read the source:law.justia.com ↗

For founders

Operator types in Georgia

What each type is, and who to talk to. The requirements to hold each designation are set by the statute and agency pages linked on the card; read them before you choose.

Independent Private School

Operate as an independent private school under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(b).

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Homeschool Cooperative

A shared-resource model where families retain full legal responsibility for their children's education under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(c). Combined with the § 20-2-690(f) Learning Pod Protection, Georgia's homeschool-co-op framework is among the clearest in the country.

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Certified Tutor Practice

A child must attend a public school, a qualifying private school, or a home study program. A tutor may provide instruction within one of those frameworks — either as contracted staff of a private school, or as a tutor engaged by a home-study family.

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Read the source:law.justia.com ↗

Religious Community School

Operate as an independent religious/denominational private school under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(b). Faith integration of curriculum is unrestricted. Accreditation through ACSI is a common pathway and opens participation in the Georgia Promise Scholarship and Special Needs Scholarship.

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Childcare Preschool Program

Licensing thresholds depend on number of unrelated children, facility type, and daily hours, and DECAL sets them — DECAL decides whether a program needs licensure or registration. If any child has reached compulsory-attendance age, that child must have a separate compulsory-attendance pathway.

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Georgia Department of Early Care and LearningWho licenses this type

Umbrella School Satellite

Theoretically, an established accredited private school could accept a satellite site under its own accreditation and compliance, but this functions as a branch campus rather than an umbrella arrangement — the parent school holds full responsibility for the satellite.

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Read the source:law.justia.com ↗

Check before you open

Could childcare rules apply to you?

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In Georgia, childcare licensing is administered by Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. The governing rules are cited as O.C.G.A. Title 20, Chapter 1A (DECAL licensing); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 591.

Agency and rules:decal.ga.gov ↗law.justia.com ↗

Common triggers. Not a complete list:

  • caring for children below the state's compulsory school age
  • parents drop off and leave
  • before- or after-school care, or full-day hours
  • care in a home rather than a school space
  • the number of unrelated children in your care

Childcare rules can reach school-age children as well as preschoolers, and a microschool that fits a pathway above can still fall under them. Only the agency can tell you whether your program needs a license. Ask them before you open, and confirm with your attorney.

For families

Funding programs

Looking for money to start a school?

Grants and loans that aren't tied to one state, each linked to the funder's own page.

See the national list →

The state programs that can pay toward tuition or expenses at a program like yours. Award amounts, eligibility rules and application windows change often, so plan from the program pages, not from this summary.

Education savings account

Georgia Promise Scholarship

Administered by Georgia Education Savings Authority

Administered by the Georgia Education Savings Authority (GESA) — the public authority created by SB 233 at O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-2, operating under the Georgia Student Finance Commission — with families, schools, service providers and vendors transacting on the Odyssey platform at mygeorgiapromise.org.

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Award amounts, eligibility rules and application windows change often. Check the program pages before you plan tuition or enrollment around them.

Program pages:gsfc.georgia.gov ↗mygeorgiapromise.org ↗mygeorgiapromise.org ↗mygeorgiapromise.org ↗mygeorgiapromise.org ↗edchoice.org ↗mygeorgiapromise.org ↗

Tax-credit scholarship

Georgia Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit

Administered by Georgia Department of Revenue preapproves the tax credit

Georgia individual and corporate taxpayers may contribute to an approved Student Scholarship Organization (SSO) and receive a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit (subject to an annual statewide cap).

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Award amounts, eligibility rules and application windows change often. Check the program pages before you plan tuition or enrollment around them.

Program pages:goalscholarship.org ↗georgiasso.com ↗audits.ga.gov ↗dor.georgia.gov ↗

Voucher

Georgia Special Needs Scholarship

Administered by Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Award amounts, eligibility rules and application windows change often. Check the program pages before you plan tuition or enrollment around them.

Program pages:gadoe.org ↗gosa.georgia.gov ↗edchoice.org ↗

Scholarship granting organization

Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit

Existing Georgia SSOs (Georgia GOAL, Georgia SSO, Arete) are positioned to operate as federal SGOs once IRS guidance finalizes.

Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.

Award amounts, eligibility rules and application windows change often. Check the program pages before you plan tuition or enrollment around them.

Program pages:irs.gov ↗edchoice.org ↗goalscholarship.org ↗11alive.com ↗

Calendar

Where to find Georgia dates and deadlines

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We don't publish filing windows or due dates. A wrong date can cost a school year. These pages set them; check them directly, and again before you file.

Beyond childcare

Other state licensing triggers

Situations that can bring a program under a state approval or licensing rule. Approval rules and forms change; confirm with the agency on the linked page.

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Operating a school primarily serving students with disabilities and accepting GA Special Needs Scholarship

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2110 et seq. (Special Needs Scholarship)

Schools that hold out special-needs programming and accept Georgia Special Needs Scholarship students must register as participating private schools with GaDOE, meet accreditation or accreditation-candidate requirements, document IEP service delivery, and comply with GaDOE audit and reporting obligations.

Read the source:gadoe.org ↗

Legislation

Law changes in Georgia

1 listed · Show

Bills the Georgia legislature passed that touch microschools, learning pods or education savings accounts, each read before it is listed. The sections above describe the law as we last verified it; a law listed here may change them.

Bill data from LegiScan LLC, CC BY 4.0. Updated Sep 26, 2026. Every law listed was read before it was listed. The summaries are ours and are not legal advice. Read the act on the legislature's site before you rely on it.

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Verification

Sources

Every source this page draws on, split by who published it. Check which group a link is in, and who published it, before you rely on it.

Law and government publications (9)

Government-published — which is not the same as state-published. Most are this state's own code, regulations, agency and legislature pages. Others are federal, and some of those only SUMMARISE this state's rules rather than setting them; a few are city or county government. A summary of the law is not the law, and neither a federal nor a local page is a source of state obligation — so check who published any you rely on.

Unofficial reproductions of the law (3)

Private publishers reproducing this state's statute and regulation verbatim. Faithful, and often the only free full text where a state runs no official code server — but not the official record, and not maintained by anyone the state answers for. Where exact wording decides something, confirm it against the state's own publication.

Supporting sources (12)

News coverage, program directories, advocacy and association publications. Useful context, and listed so you can see what this page drew on — but they are not the law and they are not the state speaking. This list is not mapped claim by claim, so if a specific fact matters to a decision, confirm it against a government source rather than assuming it came from one.

Explore nearby state guides

Founders often compare pathways, funding programs and operator types across nearby or high-demand states before choosing a launch path.

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General information only; not legal advice. The MicroSchool Lab is not a law firm. Consult a licensed attorney in Georgia and the agencies linked above before opening a school. Sources last checked August 25, 2026.
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