State guide
The legal pathways, operator types, funding programs and licensing agencies Pennsylvania 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.
Required subjects at the elementary level include English (spelling, reading, writing), arithmetic, science, geography, history of US & PA, civics, safety (including fire prevention), health/physiology, physical education, music, and art; secondary adds algebra, biology/chemistry/physics, and world/US history.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:legis.state.pa.us ↗
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:legis.state.pa.us ↗pacodeandbulletin.gov ↗
A day school operated by a bona fide religious institution registers with PDE, provides instruction in the required subjects, and self-certifies compliance. PDE calls this a nonpublic, non-licensed day school and its filing is form PDE-5000A, the Affidavit/Certificate of Nonpublic, Non-Licensed Day School.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:education.pa.gov ↗
License requirements include a board-approved curriculum, certified teachers at EVERY level — 22 Pa. Code § 51.34(a): only holders of a Pennsylvania professional certificate, a private academic teaching certificate, or a private academic temporary approval may teach in a licensed private school — minimum instructional hours, facility/fire/health approvals, and financial disclosures.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:education.pa.gov ↗pacodeandbulletin.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 independent, nonreligious private microschool picks ONE of two legal shells: a licensed Private Academic School (highest regulatory burden but strongest legal standing and accreditation compatibility) OR operate under accreditation by a State-Board-approved accreditor in lieu of licensure.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
PA's § 13-1327(a) private-tutor pathway limits the tutor to children of ONE family. Multi-family tutoring collectives must use the home-education cluster or a licensed/religious school shell.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Register as a day school operated by a bona fide religious institution under § 13-1327(b), which PDE registers as a nonpublic, non-licensed day school on form PDE-5000A. File annual enrollment report with PDE. Curriculum must cover the required subjects. Popular structure for Catholic, evangelical, classical Christian, and Jewish microschools.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Keystone STARS participation unlocks early-childhood subsidy revenue.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Bureau of Certification ServicesWho licenses this type
Legally they collapse into one of the above shells: the on-site days are either a licensed Private Academic School / § 13-1327(b) religious day school providing part-time enrollment, OR each family is a Home Education Program and the on-site days are a supplemental co-op. PA cyber charter schools (e.g., Commonwealth Charter Academy, PA Cyber) provide tuition-free online curriculum that some microschools wrap with in-person support — but this makes students public-school-enrolled, with attendance, testing, and reporting running through the cyber charter.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Each family must either file a § 13-1327.1 affidavit OR enroll in a PA-registered nonpublic school.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Check before you open
In Pennsylvania, childcare licensing is administered by Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Bureau of Certification Services. The governing rules are cited as 55 Pa. Code Ch. 3270 (Child Care Centers), Ch. 3280 (Group Child Care Homes), Ch. 3290 (Family Child Care Homes).
Agency and rules:pacodeandbulletin.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.
To receive EITC money a school simply has to be a school an approved SO chooses to fund -- families apply for scholarships directly to DCED-approved SOs (e.g., Bridge Educational Foundation, Central PA Scholarship Fund, Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia, BLOCS). SO disburses tuition directly to the approved school.
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:dced.pa.gov ↗education.pa.gov ↗
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:dced.pa.gov ↗palegis.us ↗legis.state.pa.us ↗pa.gov ↗
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:legis.state.pa.us ↗
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.
24 P.S. § 13-1327.1 (the filing duty and the August 1 deadline); 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 62, the Uniform Unsworn Declarations Act (the authority for filing an unsworn declaration instead of the notarized affidavit § 13-1327.1(b) names): https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/42/00.062..HTMPDE PNPE data-collection procedures (administering 24 P.S. § 13-1327(b) and 22 Pa. Code Ch. 51 reporting)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.
22 Pa. Code Ch. 51 (Private Academic Schools Act; 24 P.S. § 6701 et seq.)
Obtain a Private Academic School license from the State Board of Private Academic Schools before operating. Alternatives: register as a religious day school under § 13-1327(b), or operate under accreditation by a State-Board-approved accreditor (e.g., Middle States Association, ACSI).
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:pacodeandbulletin.gov ↗education.pa.gov ↗
24 P.S. §§ 20-2001-B et seq. (Article XX-B establishes BOTH the educational improvement and the opportunity scholarship tax credits)
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:education.pa.gov ↗
23 Pa.C.S. § 6344 (Child Protective Services Law); 24 P.S. § 1-111; Act 153 of 2014
Every employee and any volunteer with direct contact with children must obtain: (1) PA Child Abuse History Clearance, (2) PA State Police Criminal Record Check, (3) FBI fingerprint-based background check. Mandatory reporter training is required. These requirements apply to § 13-1327(b) religious day schools and Private Academic Schools alike.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:pa.gov ↗
Legislation
Bills the Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania. 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.
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.