Harvard College was established in 1636 and, like most of the older, esteemed institutions of higher learning in the United States, began as a religious effort. Churches should be thanked for the role they have historically played in advancing the cause of education, both public and at home. The middle colonies exhibited more diversity of religious groups, consequently, each group provided what education it could and there was no impetus by state or local governments. The spread of public schooling in the eighteenth century gradually began to replace other means of education, but home education and church affiliated education continued to survive and fill needs. Home based education thrives today for a multitude of reasons.
Home schooling families in the United States are as diverse as the population of the country.
Recent studies, including federal surveys, have shown that home schooling is relatively evenly spread among income and educational groups. Religion does play a major role in some families' decisions to home school, but for a growing segment of the home schooling population it does not. Some parents have chosen home schooling because they believe that they are better equipped, prepared and motivated to teach their own children than public school teachers. Other parents choose home schooling because they desire to protect their children from crime, drugs, and sexual immorality, that has become all too common as evidenced by daily news reports and personal experience. Still others choose home schooling for religious reasons, believing that God has given the responsibility to parents to educate their children.