Once your student has completed a state approved Driver’s Education course and received their certificate of completion, they will need a completed DEC form (good for 30 days) in order to show that they are eligible to receive their Driver’s license.
“The DEC form is required in addition to the official State of North Carolina Driver Education course completion certificate which indicates that the student has successfully completed a State of North Carolina approved student driver education course of study.”
Your local school district can provide specific information about their Driver’s Education Courses and their schedules. You will need to register according to your local district’s requirements. NC provides funds for the courses in Driver’s Education, so your school’s location will be the determining factor in which school district you contact. Currently, the State only provides partial funds for each student to take the course ONE time, so your school district will let you know the total costs involved in completing the written and driving portions of the DE.
How to order a DEC?
If you are the chief administrator of a North Carolina non-public school (home or conventional) which has been registered with DNPE for at least the last six calendar months and meets all current North Carolina requirements for such a school, you can request a student driver eligibility certificate online at the NCDNPE website. You will need your school ID number, which you can also access at the website, if you don’t remember it.
Or you can call DNPE for assistance at (919) 733-4276.
The DECs will then be mailed via US mail to your homeschool address, so be sure that it is updated in their records. There is no cost to receive a DEC.
Further Information on obtaining the NC “Driving Eligibility Certificate” (DEC) can be found here:
http://www.ncdnpe.org/FAQs/hhh105a.aspx
Remember: when your student goes to the DMV, they will need to have both the DEC (expires after 30 days from issuance date) and a certificate of completion from their Driver’s Education Course unless they are over 18 years of age. The DMV requires other documents for identification as well, so check with them to see what they require in addition to the above.
North Carolina "Homeschool-ology" 
Thank you for providing all of this information! This can be a daunting task and having posts such as yours makes it all a bit less harrowing. I did want to see if you had any information for Davidson County. Thank you and God bless you always!
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Hi Jane – thanks for letting me know the site helped you! I know that Davidson has a regular homeschool group CCHE which you can find here http://www.ccheinc.org/. Also check on Facebook for NC Adventurous Home Educators – that group does a ton of field trips all over, but are based in Davidson/ the Piedmont Triad area, we have some Davidson families in our Forsyth Home Educators Group too since it is convenient for them to travel to Forsyth. FHE is great! Hope you find the perfect group, and thank you again for letting me know you like the website.
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My son just finished hid drivers ed course here in cabarrus county and I know a DOC firm is necessary with your homeschool name on it. My question is this, I have a homeschool name but he actually takes his classes through an online school. Which name am I supposed to list? Our school name or the name of the online school?
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Hi Christina – this is not the NCDNPE, just my private blog (Merit), but having had three teens get their licenses while homeschooled, I can tell you that you need to list your homeschool information on all your documentation. The online school is your “curriculum” and you are the administrator of your homeschool. Use your homeschool’s name. Hope this answers your question 🙂
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My son will be 15 in January and is desperate to start drivers ed. He home schools and we live in Chatham County. Ive been scouring the internet and can’t even find a drivers ed course for him to take. Any help with approved courses would be very much appreciated.
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Hi Amber – check with your local high school. All three of my students used our high school program and it was very reasonable and the teachers were great. Now that the funding issues have settled down, the schools are scheduling homeschoolers for Driver’s Ed again.
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Wayne county is no longer offering drivers Ed at schools. Can a child go to another county?
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HI Linda- there are quite a few changes going on in county DE programs since the budget issues in Raleigh. Apparently much of the funding for the programs that came from the state is being withdrawn and many school districts can’t absorb the cost. Stay tuned for an article here on the blog once I have more information about the issue. I am currently researching it and trying to find out more about alternatives for homeschoolers!
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I am in Benson, Johnston County, NC. I heard the fee is going up after June. Mandatory meeting at South Johnston High School for parents is tonight. Classes start June 17th. Do they have online classes also? That would be great. I feel pressured to sign him up, quick. I hate that. Thank you.
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HI Nikki- the fee went up in our county too. It is my understanding that it is probably due to de-funding of the program by the state. In our county, the county voted to pick up the classes and some of the costs, and an increase in what parents pay made up the rest. Our county classes were all online and then the kids took their written test and their on-the-road driving at the high school. If I were you, I would attend the meeting and find out more about the program if you can. It might be just what you are looking for. In some areas, you might also find a private group providing classes, but it was so easy to get this done in the summer and then be able to work on getting the driving hours in for a level 2 license.
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The best way to pass exam from the first try are practice and good teacher. Its good to have a nice instructor like your parents but its much better if you inquire to other car expert who can tell you about all about driving and some tips. When I started to learn how to drive i asked my father but it was a great mistake. He’s terrible as a partner. After that my mom bought lessons at education4drivers.com. So the best thing you should do – hire good teacher and a lot of practice and stay calm =)
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Hi Jull- thanks for your thoughts on Driver’s Education. You are so right about the practice and “stay calm” advice! I know my kids much preferred having me in the car over their dad too 🙂 In NC, you can participate in public school Driver’s Education classes. We just had to register with our school district and they sent us a schedule and all the information we needed. The kids took their written tests at the school and most of the material was presented online. Then they were scheduled for driving. We paid just $40 toward their in-car sessions and then we took them to get their permits at the DMV. Our levelled licensing for students can seem a little overwhelming so one of our kids just opted to wait until she was 18 to take her tests and get her license. She missed out on all those fun restrictions and hours of logging driving time that my sons are dealing with! lol!
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Im homeschooled and looking for a guy named mr.Wallace in Hampstead nc who charges only 100 dollars for drivers ed
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Alissa, I don’t know which company this is, but I am approving the comment in case someone who sees it can help you. As a Home Schooled student, you are eligible to take Driver’s Ed at the public schools. Most of them only charge the $40 dollars that it costs them for the “in car” driving portion. Our school district let us do all the coursework online. Let me know if you have questions for me and I will keep my ears open and if I find out who this is, I will email you. Good luck with your Driver’s Ed.
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Does anyone know if Ms. B is still teaching drivers ed for homeschoolers? Looking for classes in Greensboro area.
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Lucinda- have you checked at the Piedmont Homeschoolers Yahoo Group yet? http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Piedmonthomeschoolers/conversations/messages / I moderate there and there are a lot of Hser’s in Greensboro. I will still keep my ears open for you about DE classes.
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Hey there- I see you got on the yahoo group- I hope it helps!
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Thanks for all the great, detailed info on this subject.. We are heading down that road very soon.
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Hi Tracey ~ it is so great to hear from you! Glad it helps!
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