While every state has immunization requirements, almost all allow parents who object to vaccinations for religious or philosophical reasons to opt out. California, Mississippi, and West Virginia stand alone in offering only medical exemptions. Yet while parents of public school students may claim an exemption and bypass the state’s vaccination requirements for their children, homeschooled students in most states are not subject to these vaccination requirements to begin with, and even when they are, they are rarely required to submit documentation showing proof of immunization or of religious or philosophical exemption.

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In most states, immunization laws are written to apply to public, private, and sometimes parochial schools specifically. Because homeschools are not defined as “schools” in these states, they are often exempt. In some states, homeschools are defined as private schools and are thus subject to vaccine requirements, while in other states all children are required to be vaccinated regardless of whether they attend public, private, and homeschools. Yet even states that technically require homeschooled students to be vaccinated generally do not require homeschooling parents to submit any documentation of compliance. As a result, even states that do require homeschooled children to be vaccinated rarely enforce this requirement.

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