In 2000, federally funded public adult education programs provided basic skills training and English language instruction to over 2.6 million students, or about 1.5% of the U.S. adult population. By 2021, enrollment had plummeted to under 900,000, or less than 0.4% of adults. What explains these declines? This policy brief describes the evolution…

The "State of Preschool 2022" annual report covers the 2021-2022 school year and is NIEER's 20th report tracking preschool enrollment, funding, and policies state-by-state. This report focuses on the recovery since the 2020-2021 school year, where we are compared to before the pandemic, where we've come over the last two decades, and…

After recent experimental evidence suggesting that private school students using the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) performed worse than their public school peers in math, some legislators discussed cutting the program as a way to reduce state education expenditures in Louisiana, spinning it as a way to save taxpayer money. While cutting the…

The 19th edition of "The State of Preschool," the National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER) report on the annual survey of state preschool policies, includes information for every state on child enrollment, funding, staffing, and quality standards. The pandemic has highlighted and intensified longstanding problems in…

This paper examines how colleges respond to the introduction of broad merit aid programs. Previous research has emphasized the impact of merit aid on enrollment, student choices, and post-matriculation outcomes. Yet much less is known about how state-implemented merit aid programs affect colleges' financial decisions. To explore impacts, college…

The 18th edition of "The State of Preschool," the National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER) report on the annual survey of state preschool policies, includes information for every state on child enrollment, funding, staffing, and quality standards. It also includes information about where children are served, preschool…

The 17th edition of "The State of Preschool," the National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER) report on their annual survey of state preschool policies, provides government policymakers valuable information for planning short- and long-term responses to the crisis. The report includes information for every state on child…

The most recent version of the Build Back Better (BBB) Act includes historic investments in child care and preschool totaling $390 billion. These investments create a child care entitlement for most children from birth through age five and universal pre-kindergarten for three- and four-year-olds, which would provide significant increases to access…

Years of irresponsible budgeting practices have left the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) almost $12 billion in debt. Without significant reforms, Louisiana's pension problems are likely to get worse, with further negative consequences for workers and schools. This report shows that schools participating in the TRSL already must…

The Build Back Better Act (BBB) will provide significant transformative funding to support the fragile child care and pre-kindergarten (pre-K) sectors and more equitably serve America's children, families, and child care workers. In Understanding the Child Care and Pre-K Provisions in the Build Back Better Act, the Center for Law and Social Policy…

TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. Affordability matters a great deal for transfer students, but it has typically not been understood or prioritized. The IHEP…

The "State of Preschool 2018" is the 16th edition of the National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER's) annual report tracking state-funded preschool access, resources, and quality. Since 2002, the preschool landscape has changed in many ways; and in others, it has remained the same--highlighting the need for a renewed…

The core challenge our proposal seeks to address is how to ensure that every American family and child has access to high-quality, affordable early childhood care and education (ECE) services in a critical period of human development, breaking a shortage of investment in young children. America's status quo asks the most of parents when they have…

"The State of Preschool 2017" is the 15th edition of the National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER) annual report tracking state-funded preschool access, resources, and quality. Since 2002, many states have made progress, a few have fallen behind, and a handful have emerged as leaders. As a result, disparities in access to…

"The State of Preschool 2016" is the latest edition of our annual yearbook report profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. NIEER's [National Institute for Early Education Research's] "State Preschool Yearbook" is the only national report on state-funded preschool programs with detailed information…