The Research Reality of Educational Choice Independent research supports the need for—and the benefits of—school choice. Read what the research says about school choice. graduation rates washington, d.c.: Students who used their voucher in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program graduated at a rate of 91%, which is more than 20 percentage points higher than those interested in the program who did not receive a scholarship and 29 percent higher than the graduation rate of D.C. Public Schools.
wisconsin: Students participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program had a 76.6% on-time graduation rate—7.2 percentage points higher than the graduation rate of students in Milwaukee Public Schools.
college enrollment new york: African American participants in a private school choice program were 24% more likely to enroll in college as a result of receiving a voucher. The study by the Brookings Institution and Harvard University also shows that African American enrollment rates in selective colleges more than doubled among voucher students, and the rate of enrollment in full-time colleges increased by 31 percent. Using a randomized experiment to measure the impact of school vouchers on college enrollment, researchers tracked privately funded voucher students in New York City over a nearly 15-year period.
academic achievement washington, d.c.: The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program boosted student reading scores, as the use of a scholarship increased reading achievement by an extra 3.7 months of additional learning over three years.
florida: Students participating in the Florida Scholarship Tax Credit performed just as well—if not better —than students nationally. “The typical student participating in the program tended to maintain his or her relative position in comparison with others nationwide. It is important to note that these national comparisons pertain to all students nationally, and not just low-income students,” the study’s author, David Figlio, said. In a later study, Dr. Figlio also found that the typical student participating in the program gained a year’s worth of learning in a year’s worth of time.
taxpayer savings florida: The nonpartisan Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability reported that: “The corporate income tax credit scholarship program produces a net savings to the state. We estimate that in Fiscal Year 2007–08, taxpayers saved $1.49 in state education funding for every dollar loss in corporate income tax revenue due to credits for scholarship contributions.”
wisconsin: An ongoing state-sponsored fiscal analysis of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program found that the voucher program is producing growing net statewide taxpayer savings. In fiscal year 2010, the estimated savings was $46.7 million, and the estimated net fiscal benefit in fiscal year 2011 is $51.9 million.
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