The authors examined long-term outcomes for children who experienced delayed entry to kindergarten or kindergarten retention. They used a cohort of 6,841 students to compare these groups to each other and typically progressing peers. First, the authors compared the groups on demographic and early childhood variables. For the long-term school-based…

Following the 2007 presidential election, the Government of Kenya abolished secondary school fees in 2008. In the context of this significant change in policy, this study examines the effect of fees on transition to secondary schooling by following 109 primary school leavers in rural Kenya after the fee abolition, starting in 2007. The study draws…

The study reviewed in this report examined the effects of private school vouchers on college enrollment outcomes. The vouchers were given to low-income elementary-age students through the New York School Choice Scholarships Foundation (SCSF) program. In 1997, the SCSF used a random assignment lottery to offer three-year vouchers to approximately…

Students from low-income families are underrepresented in higher education, despite the fact that many of them are well qualified to enroll. When low-income students do enroll in college, they tend to be overrepresented in public community colleges and for-profit institutions, or if they attend four-year institutions, tend to attend regional state…

One sees various efforts in developed as well as in developing economies to seek a greater participation of lower-income students in their nation's leading universities. Once lower-income students do enroll in a highly selective institution, what happens to them? How well do they do academically when compared to their more wealthy counterparts?…

The recent uptick in New York City's economy could provide a huge sigh of relief for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who lost their job in the Great Recession and are still out of work. But many of the city's unemployed will need more than just enhanced skills to take advantage of the new job opportunities; they'll need access to…

Low-income students continue to struggle with the rising costs of higher education. Four-year college tuition typically exceeds financial aid awarded to undergraduates at public institutions. St. John (2005) contended that grant amounts remain inadequate for low-income students. Tinto (2008) highlighted the growing income stratification within…

States compel children to attend school; in fact, 98% of all school-age children attend schools--irrespective of conditions. Yet the environmental conditions of decayed facilities or facilities close to hazards can damage children's health and ability to learn. At the same time, it is well documented that healthy school facilities can help…

Disaggregating the data across four school variables--size, locale, racial/ethnic minority population, and population eligible for free or reduced-price lunch--this study examines the extent to which Oregon grade 9-12 students enrolled in high school math courses during 2006/07 and 2007/08 would not have been on track to graduate had the new…

Disaggregating the data across four school variables--size, locale, racial/ethnic minority population, and population eligible for free or reduced-price lunch--this study examines the extent to which Oregon grade 9-12 students enrolled in high school math courses during 2006/07 and 2007/08 would not have been on track to graduate had the new…

The authors investigated whether age at kindergarten entry was associated with early literacy achievement gaps and if these gaps persisted over time. Using the kindergarten age eligibility cutoff date, they created 2 groups of students who represented the oldest and youngest children in a cohort of students in high-poverty, low-performing schools.…

We review the experimental and quasi-experimental research evidence on the causal relationship between college costs and educational attainment, with a particular focus on low-income populations. The weight of the evidence indicates that reducing college costs can increase college entry and persistence. Simple and transparent programs appear to be…

The Kalamazoo Promise, announced in 2005, is an innovative college-scholarship program available to every graduate of the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Schools. Programs such as the Kalamazoo Promise, which is being emulated in cities across the United States, open new avenues for the acquisition of human capital regardless of income level or…

The extent to which colleges and universities provide opportunities for students from the most economically disadvantaged families is an important indicator of the potential for U.S. higher education to promote intergenerational mobility. Yet the measurement of "opportunity" for low-income students at the level of individual colleges and…

This fact sheet offers information on North Dakota's Head Start and Early Head Start programs, which are federally-funded comprehensive child development programs for income-eligible children and their families. The primary target population for these programs is children between the ages of 0 and 5; 5,176 such children and their families received…