High-quality Preschool Ed a Research-Based Policy Winner
National Education Policy Center, University of Colorado Boulder, November 2012
Publicly supported, high-quality preschool education is among the most successful and well-documented of education reforms. Four out of every five states provide preschool in some format or for some students, and nearly 75% of four-year-olds and just over half of three-year-olds have some form of preschool experience, ranging from day-care to high quality educational programs. However, in inflation-adjusted dollares, overall funding per child served is lower than a decade ago.
There is near-universal agreement that high-quality preschool programs more than pay for themselves in economic and social benefits. In reviewing the various cost-benefit studies, the RANS Corporation found that preschool education returns as much as $17.07 for each dollar invested, although the size of the return varies based on the nature of the program and how costs and benefits are calculated.
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