State guide
The legal pathways, operator types, funding programs and licensing agencies New Hampshire recognizes, with links to the state code and agency pages that set the rules.
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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.
Compulsory attendance
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.
A child may satisfy compulsory attendance by attending an "approved" New Hampshire nonpublic school.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:gc.nh.gov ↗law.cornell.edu ↗regulations.justia.com ↗regulations.justia.com ↗education.nh.gov ↗
A parent may educate their own child at home to satisfy compulsory attendance.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:gencourt.state.nh.us ↗education.nh.gov ↗education.nh.gov ↗nhhomeschooling.org ↗nhhomeschooling.org ↗
For founders
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.
An approved-nonpublic-school model where your program takes legal responsibility for enrolled students. You pursue Ed 403 Attendance-Purposes approval with NH DOE (or full Ed 404 Program Approval if you want additional state recognition), and families satisfy compulsory attendance by enrolling with you.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:gc.nh.gov ↗gencourt.state.nh.us ↗
Accreditation via a recognized agency (e.g., ACSI via Ed 405) is an alternative path to Ed 403/404 approval.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Licensing fees, staff-child ratios, training, and background checks apply. If your program serves any child at compulsory-attendance age (6+), that child needs a separate RSA 193:1 satisfier.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Long Term Supports and Services, Child Care Licensing UnitWho licenses this type
A satellite that enrolls compulsory-age students would need to obtain its own Ed 400 approval (or Ed 405 approval via a recognized accreditor). Operators seeking umbrella-style simplicity should use the homeschool-cooperative model instead.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:law.cornell.edu ↗
Check before you open
In New Hampshire, childcare licensing is administered by New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Long Term Supports and Services, Child Care Licensing Unit. The governing rules are cited as RSA 170-E; N.H. Admin. Code He-C 4002.
Agency and rules:gc.nh.gov ↗dhhs.nh.gov ↗dhhs.nh.gov ↗
Common triggers. Not a complete list:
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
Grants and loans that aren't tied to one state, each linked to the funder's own page.
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.
NH's universal K–12 Education Freedom Account program. Funds may be used for tuition at a participating nonpublic school, tutoring, curriculum, approved therapies, and other approved education expenses. Administered by the Children's Scholarship Fund New Hampshire (CSF NH) under contract with NH DOE: families apply on the ScholaVia portal and spend through ClassWallet, a digital wallet where every transaction is independently approved or denied by CSF compliance.
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:education.nh.gov ↗education.nh.gov ↗nh.scholarshipfund.org ↗edchoice.org ↗reachinghighernh.org ↗nh.scholarshipfund.org ↗nh.scholarshipfund.org ↗nh.scholarshipfund.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:revenue.nh.gov ↗nh.scholarshipfund.org ↗edchoice.org ↗
Calendar
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.
RSA 193-A:5, IRSA 194-F; CSF NH EFA application guidanceRSA 194-F; CSF NH EFA Parent HandbookBeyond childcare
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.
N.H. Admin. Code Ed 1100 (Part Ed 1114 — Standards for Approval of Private Providers of Special Education and Non-LEA Programs)
A program serving students with disabilities under IEPs issued by NH LEAs must obtain "Approved Private Provider" status from NH DOE.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:law.cornell.edu ↗regulations.justia.com ↗education.nh.gov ↗
Legislation
Bills the New Hampshire 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.
Families who home educate no longer file a notice, keep a portfolio or get an annual evaluation; a declaration is needed only to use public school programs or when withdrawing from a public school. A student in the Education Freedom Account program is not a home educated student under the new definition.
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.
Verification
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.
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.
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.
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.