State guide
The legal pathways, operator types, funding programs and licensing agencies North Dakota 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.
Teachers must be licensed or approved by the Education Standards and Practices Board (ESPB), all required subjects must be offered, the facility must comply with state/local health, fire, and safety laws, and criminal background checks are required for employees with unsupervised contact with children.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:ndlegis.gov ↗ndlegis.gov ↗ndlegis.gov ↗ed.gov ↗
A parent may supervise home education to satisfy compulsory attendance.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:ndlegis.gov ↗nd.gov ↗nd.gov ↗
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 school assumes full legal responsibility for enrolled students.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
A shared-resource model where families retain full legal responsibility for their children's education under NDCC Chapter 15.1-23. You provide programming, space, and support; each family independently files the annual Statement of Intent (SFN 16909) with their resident superintendent and handles parent qualification and testing requirements individually. This is typically the path of least regulatory resistance in North Dakota because it avoids the NDCC 15.1-06-06.1 nonpublic-school approval process.
NDCC 15.1-20-02 recognizes only approved nonpublic school attendance or home education as satisfiers for private-setting instruction. Operators targeting a solo-instructor practice should structure as a Homeschool Cooperative.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:ndlegis.gov ↗ndlegis.gov ↗
A congregation-connected model operating as an approved nonpublic school under NDCC 15.1-06-06.1. Religious content and faith-integrated curriculum are permitted, but the school must still meet state approval: ESPB-licensed teachers, all required subjects, calendar minimums, health/fire/safety, and background checks.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
HHS admits programs below it to self-declared provider status — confirm which side you are on with HHS.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, Early Childhood ServicesWho licenses this type
You coordinate curriculum and classroom instruction; families complete remaining instruction days at home, handle the Statement of Intent filing, and meet parent qualification/testing requirements.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Each satellite location would need its own approval.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:ndlegis.gov ↗
Check before you open
In North Dakota, childcare licensing is administered by North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, Early Childhood Services. The governing rules are cited as NDCC Chapter 50-11.1; NDAC Title 75 Article 3.
Agency and rules:hhs.nd.gov ↗hhs.nd.gov ↗licensingregulations.acf.hhs.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.
This page lists no state-run scholarship, voucher or education savings account program for North Dakota. Check the state education agency for anything new.
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.
NDCC 15.1-23-02NDCC 15.1-06-06.1(2)Beyond 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.
NDCC 15.1-06-06.1
The report verifies: ESPB-licensed teachers (or NDCC 15.1-09-57 exceptions), offering all state-required subjects, compliance with health/fire/safety laws, and criminal background checks on employees with unsupervised contact with children.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:ndlegis.gov ↗ed.gov ↗
Legislation
Bills the North Dakota 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.
Our search found no enacted bills on microschools, learning pods or education savings accounts in North Dakota. A search can miss things, so this is not a statement that nothing changed.
Bill data from LegiScan LLC, CC BY 4.0. Updated Sep 26, 2026. Every law listed was read before it was listed. 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.