Preschool programs in the United States
Congressional alert
June 2021
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Preschool Programs in the United States
President Biden’s American Families Plan proposes a 10-year, $200 billion federal investment in publicly funded preschool programs. As Congress considers whether to fund this initiative, RAND research can provide insight into the costs, benefits, return on investment, and features of high-quality preschool programs.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions, would like to speak with a RAND researcher, or would like a copy of a RAND report.
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bernardbodo/Getty Images
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Under the administration’s proposed American Families Plan, the federal government would address disparities in preschool access by adding $200 billion to the public sector’s investment in high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-olds. If approved by Congress, how can we be sure that this historic investment counts?
Read the commentary »
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Christopher Futcher/iStock
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This report draws on rigorous evaluations of U.S. preschool programs to examine their short- and long-run effects and the associated costs, benefits, and economic returns. Researchers found that high-quality programs represent a significant investment of resources, but that investment may be paid back through improved outcomes during the school-age years and beyond: Credible estimates of the economic return for full-scale, high-quality preschool programs range from about $2 to $4 for every $1 invested.
Read the report »
Read the research brief »
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Gregg Pachkowski for USA Today via Reuters
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Understanding the true cost of high-quality pre-K programs is critical to determining the total funding needed to support and expand programs. A new RAND report finds that the cost for a school-day academic-year preschool program is about $12,700 per child. States and communities with a lower cost of living will be below this estimate; higher-cost areas will exceed it. Additional costs for system-level supports would be expected to add another few hundred to a few thousand dollars per child.
Read the research brief »
Read the full report »
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RAND Congressional Resources Staff
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