How to Start a Private School in the US: 5 Steps by State

2026年11月3日

For education founders in the United States

To start a private school in the US, first read your own state’s rules (there is no single federal licence), then form a legal entity and decide whether it will be a nonprofit seeking 501(c)(3) status, confirm the building, fire, health and immunization rules for your address, write a curriculum and calendar that meet your state’s minimums, and treat accreditation as a later, often optional step tied to specific benefits. Everything else in a business plan depends on those five answers.

This guide is for founders of a full private school, a child’s main school with a regular calendar and teachers. It draws on the U.S. Department of Education’s state summaries, the IRS pages on 501(c)(3) organizations and the latest Private School Universe Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). It is not legal or tax advice; your state agency, the IRS and a qualified adviser are the reliable source for your case.

Planning a learning community for homeschooled children instead? Start with how to start a microschool.

In this article

What counts as a private school in the US
Step 1: Read your state’s private school requirements
Step 2: Choose a legal form: nonprofit 501(c)(3) or for-profit
Step 3: Building, fire, health and immunization rules
Step 4: Curriculum, calendar and teachers
Step 5: Accreditation, and when it matters
A private school business plan, and what drives the cost
Private school or microschool?
Starting alone, or with a model that already runs
Questions and answers

What counts as a private school in the US

For its national count, NCES defines a private school as one not supported primarily by public funds that provides classroom instruction for one or more of grades K–12 and has one or more teachers; groups that only support home schooling are not counted. Your state may use its own terms, such as “church school” or “qualified nonpublic school,” and those decide your duties.

The latest survey, for the 2023–24 school year (published by NCES in May 2026), shows that small is normal in this sector:

30,553private elementary and secondary schools in 2023–24

5,096,365students enrolled in those schools

167students in the average private school

39%of private schools enrolled fewer than 50 students

Source: NCES, 2023–24 Private School Universe Survey First Look (NCES 2026-015).

The same report found that 67 percent of private schools had a religious orientation or purpose and that 12,233 did not report membership in any private school association. A new, independent school with a few dozen students is not unusual.

Step 1: Read your state’s private school requirements

A school founder in her forties reviews printed state rules and a budget at a desk beside a bright window (illustrative image) — Before a lease or a logo, print your state’s private school rules and mark every duty that applies to you. (Illustrative image)

Private schools in the US are regulated state by state. The U.S. Department of Education’s page “State Regulation of Private and Home Schools” has one summary per state, under the same headings: accreditation, registration, licensing and approval, then teachers, school year, curriculum, records, and health and safety. Read your state’s summary first, then check each point with the state agency, because several summaries were last updated between 2014 and 2016.

The five states below all appear in Google’s suggestions for “how to start a private school,” and they work very differently:

State (ED page last updated)	Registration or licensing	Accreditation	Teacher certification
North Carolina (2016; registration updated Dec 2024)	Notice of Intent to the Division of Non-Public Education, suggested 30–60 days before opening	Optional; one of four ways to be a “qualified nonpublic school”	No state policy
Florida (2016)	Annual database survey filed with the Florida Department of Education	No requirements	Not required
Georgia (2016)	None; enrollment reported to the local superintendent within 30 days of the school year	Not required, but needed for state scholarship and tax credit programs	Not required
Virginia (2014)	No registration; licensing for schools serving students with disabilities (unless approved or accredited) and for preschools (unless exempt)	Optional; through the Virginia Council for Private Education	Not required by the state
Colorado (2014)	Treated as small businesses; license from the Secretary of State’s office	Optional	Not required

Summary of the U.S. Department of Education state pages listed in the sources. This table is not a statement of current law. Confirm every row with the state agency before you act on it.

Ask your state, in writing, what you must file before the first day, and which category you fall into: religious schools, preschools and schools serving students with disabilities are often treated differently.

Step 2: Choose a legal form: nonprofit 501(c)(3) or for-profit

A private school is run by a legal entity formed under state law. The big choice is whether it will be a nonprofit applying to the IRS for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3), or a for-profit company.

The IRS lists “educational” among the exempt purposes in section 501(c)(3). To be tax-exempt, the IRS says an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes, none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual, and it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities or take part in campaigns for or against political candidates. Since January 31, 2020, Form 1023, the application for recognition of exemption, must be submitted electronically on Pay.gov.

A tax-exempt private school has one more federal duty. Under Revenue Procedure 75-50 it must have a racially nondiscriminatory policy toward students, state it in its publications and publicize it; Rev. Proc. 2019-22 added the option of showing it on the school’s homepage at all times. Each year the school certifies compliance on Schedule E of Form 990 or, if it does not file Form 990, on Form 5578.

Question	Nonprofit seeking 501(c)(3)	For-profit company	Local school of an existing model
Who owns the surplus?	No one; earnings may not inure to individuals	The owners	Shared, as agreed with the model
Main federal filing	Form 1023, then annual Form 990 with Schedule E (or Form 5578)	Ordinary business tax filings	Depends on the entity chosen
Donations	Can receive tax-deductible contributions	Not tax-deductible for donors	Depends on the entity chosen
Who decides	A board	Owners and managers	You, inside the model’s framework

Based on the IRS pages in the sources. Ask a qualified adviser before choosing.

Step 3: Building, fire, health and immunization rules

Even where education rules are light, health and safety rules apply. In Georgia, private school buildings must meet state and local health and safety standards. In North Carolina, religious schools under the private school statute still follow fire, safety, sanitation and immunization rules. Florida schools enrolling kindergarten or seventh-grade students file an Immunization Annual Report of Compliance, and Virginia schools report immunization numbers to the local health department within 30 days of opening.

Before you sign a lease, put these questions to the city or county and to the state agency:

Does zoning allow a school at this address, and is a separate permit needed?
What occupancy, fire exit and fire alarm rules apply, and when will the fire marshal inspect?
Which health department inspections apply to kitchens, toilets and water?
Which immunization records must we keep, and which reports must we file, and when?
If we serve children below kindergarten age, is a child care license needed?
Which background checks are required or allowed for staff?

Step 4: Curriculum, calendar and teachers

A teacher works with six children of mixed ages around two joined tables in a small, sunlit converted room (illustrative image) — Small classes are common: the average private school pupil-to-teacher ratio in 2023–24 was 9.8. (Illustrative image)

Curriculum and calendar minimums differ just as much. From the same summaries:

Georgia: 180 days of instruction of four and one-half hours, covering reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science.
Florida: no state or district oversight of curriculum; a term of 180 school days, or at least 170 days plus the hourly equivalent.
Colorado: at least 172 days and a sequential program that includes reading, writing, mathematics, history, civics, literature and science.
North Carolina: no curriculum requirements, but nationally standardized testing is mandated.

NCES reports that the average private school year in 2023–24 was 178.8 days and the average day 6.9 hours. None of the five summaries requires state teaching certificates, though accreditors and scholarship programs can set staff rules. The Department’s national chart on these topics uses information from before September 30, 2016, so treat it as a starting point only.

Want to found a school in the United States with a model that already runs?

NIJIN Academy is an alternative school in Japan for children who do not fit conventional school, opened in September 2023 by NIJIN Inc. Children join from home through a metaverse campus, choose from about 100 live online classes a month, and can visit 52 physical classrooms across Japan. NIJIN is looking for one Country Head to lead NIJIN Academy US as business head and principal. Teaching experience is not required.

See the Country Head role in the United States

Step 5: Accreditation, and when it matters

All five state summaries above describe accreditation as optional, or as not required to operate. It matters when it is tied to something specific:

State money for families. In Georgia, a school must be accredited by a state-approved agency to take part in the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship or the private school tax credit program.
Credits and transfers. In Virginia, state law only guarantees that private school course credits will be recognized if they were completed at a state-recognized accredited school.
Legal status. In North Carolina, accreditation by a national or regional agency is one of four ways a school can show it is a qualified nonpublic school; receiving no state funding is another.

Ask each accreditor what it requires, and whether your state recognizes it for the benefit you want. For a worked state example, see starting a microschool in Texas.

A private school business plan, and what drives the cost

There is no honest national figure for the cost to start a private school; rent, salaries and rules vary too much by state and city. What is stable is the set of questions a lender, donor, landlord or co-founder will expect the business plan to answer:

Business plan section	What it must show
Families and grades	Which children, which grades in year one, and how many committed families
Legal status	The state category, filings and deadlines
Entity and tax	Nonprofit or for-profit, who governs, which federal filings
Premises	Zoning, occupancy, inspections and rent at half capacity
Program	Curriculum, calendar, hours and records
Staff	Who teaches what, background checks, cover for absence
Money	Tuition, aid, donations, break-even enrollment and cash for the months before tuition arrives
Accreditation path	Whether, when and why

The one-page budget and break-even formula are in how to start a microschool and work the same way for a larger school. Funding sources are in how to raise funds for a school; it uses India as its example, but the order of decisions carries over.

Private school or microschool?

A small setting is usually either a private school under state law, or a program for children who are legally homeschooled. That choice changes who carries the legal duty.

	Private school	Microschool for homeschooled children
Who is legally responsible for the child’s schooling	The school	Each family
State filings	Whatever your state requires of private schools	Usually the family’s homeschool filings, where required
Calendar and curriculum minimums	The school must meet them	The family must meet the homeschool rules

For state examples of both routes, see our guides for Texas, Florida and Arizona.

Starting alone, or with a model that already runs

A school director talks with two parents across a small round table in a quiet meeting room (illustrative image) — Whatever route you choose, the founder is the person parents meet before they trust a new school. (Illustrative image)

A founder who starts alone writes the curriculum, policies, budget and filings from nothing and carries all the risk. Another route is to lead the local school of a model that already runs, and spend your energy on what only a local leader can do: state rules, the building, the team and the families. NIJIN Academy was built in Japan for children who had stopped going to school, and NIJIN describes it as one of the largest alternative schools in Japan.

1,000+children enrolled since September 2023 (cumulative)

97%attendance recognition among families who applied

52physical classrooms across Japan

About 100live online classes a month

Figures are those published by NIJIN. “Attendance recognition” means the school a child is registered at counts learning at NIJIN Academy as school attendance.

The Country Head of NIJIN Academy US would be its business head and principal, and would decide with NIJIN which state and legal route fit. It is not a franchise. Investment is optional: you can co-own a local company (for example, 20% of the shares for you and 80% for NIJIN; if you invest, the guide is JPY 1 to 2 million from you and JPY 4 to 8 million from NIJIN, decided together), or start on a service contract, even alongside your current work.

As a guideline, compensation is 10% of revenue excluding consumption tax, on either route: JPY 100 million of revenue gives JPY 10 million, JPY 200 million gives JPY 20 million, capped at JPY 50 million from JPY 500 million. It is not a promise of income; with no revenue, the formula pays nothing, and anyone you hire for part of the role is paid from your 10%. Other terms are to be discussed in the interview.

Questions and answers

What are the requirements to start a private school?

Each state sets them. Check whether you must register, be licensed, approved or accredited; the calendar and curriculum minimums; records; and health and safety rules. Federal tax rules apply if you seek 501(c)(3) status.

How do I start a private school with no money?

Not at zero cost, but with less risk: open with fewer grades, use shared space, and secure committed families before you spend. For NIJIN Academy US, investment is optional and you can start on a service contract. See how to start a school without money.

How do I start a private school in North Carolina, Florida or another state?

Open your state’s summary on the Department of Education’s “State Regulation of Private and Home Schools” page, then confirm it with the state agency, such as North Carolina’s Division of Non-Public Education or the Florida Department of Education.

Does a private school have to be accredited?

In many states, no. It is often optional for operating, but can be needed for state scholarship or tax credit programs, credit recognition, or legal status. Check what it would unlock in your state.

Should a private school be a nonprofit or a for-profit business?

Both exist. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit can receive tax-deductible donations but may not pass earnings to individuals, and must certify a racially nondiscriminatory policy each year. A for-profit keeps ownership with its owners. Decide with a qualified adviser.

Is the NIJIN Academy US Country Head role a job or a business?

It is closer to founding a business: you lead NIJIN Academy US as business head and principal, as a co-owner or on a service contract. Compensation is a guideline of 10% of revenue, not a salary. Details are discussed in the interview.

Found NIJIN Academy in the United States

Want to start a school in the US for children who do not fit school? Teaching experience is not required; leadership, management, business ability and the skills of a principal are.

See the Country Head role in the United States