What are microschools and why is the education model growing in Indiana?

Microschooling institutions are growing in Indiana and are projected to expand within the state because parents are "upset" with the public school options in their school district, Gov. Mike Braun told Fox News Digital.

"I see it happening because while I'm here, we're going to make sure parents are in the driver's seat of their own kids' education," Braun said. 

Braun held a signing ceremony on Tuesday, celebrating education bills that boosted teacher pay and bolstered universal school choice in his state.

"Those are the parents most upset with the current offerings you got out there, but they may not want to do it themselves," Braun added.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said that Indiana has been at the forefront of providing parents with variety, options, and competition in the education marketplace.  (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

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An Indiana official sent Fox News Digital a report showing that there are an estimated 140 micro-schools in Indiana.

Microschooling is a hybrid of homeschooling and the traditional school model that could be privately run or held at public institutions. 

The Indiana Microschool Collaborative describes microschools as "a small learning space in your local community where each student has a personalized learning plan built around their needs, interests, and goals."

An example of this is Purdue Polytechnic High School Lab School — a private school in Indianapolis, which has about 20 students in either ninth or 10th grade, offering customized education. The Lab's classes are conducted in a Lutheran church in Indianapolis. 

"The Lab School opened in the fall of 2023 with a model that school leaders describe as part one-room schoolhouse, part all-day advisory period," ChalkBeat Indiana reported.

Microschooling institutions are growing in Indiana and are projected to expand within the state because parents are "upset" with the public school options in their school district, Governor Mike Braun told Fox News Digital. (Getty Images)

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Nature Gifts Microschool, based in Indiana, will operate as a public charter school accepting students on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Charter schools are taxpayer-funded like public schools, yet independently run, allowing for innovation and new education models. 

Since Nature Gifts is a charter school, the taxpayer dollars will go directly to the students in microschools because of their administration model and smaller class sizes.

Braun added that Indiana has been at the forefront of providing parents variety, options and competition in the education marketplace. "Microschools, to me, are just an innovation that says, 'Hey, I'm not happy with that public school system. Don't maybe like that charter option. We're going to put our own microschool together,'" Braun said.

Rural families have been taking advantage of microschools since they have limited options. There has been an uptick in parents choosing to homeschool their children since the coronavirus pandemic, indicating a growing trend of parents overlooking public schools. While microschools are not a new concept, they operate similarly to homeschooling.

Corey DeAngelis of the American Culture Project. (Fox News Digital)

Microschools are not only growing in Indiana, but also across the country. Some reporting shows an uptick in parents choosing this form of schooling since 2024.

An Indiana official sent Fox News Digital an additional report showing that Indiana has the third-most microschools, behind Arizona and Florida.

Corey DeAngelis of the American Culture Project told Fox News Digital that the growth of microschools is emblematic of a growing trend of states giving parents more options outside their neighborhood public school and parents being fed up with the traditional public school setting.

"When the government schools closed their doors and left families hanging, families tried to figure out homeschooling, and one way that they were able to economize on the process of homeschooling, was that they had to get five to ten children together in a household," DeAngelis said.

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