There are nearly one million credentials offered in the United States and approximately $1.9 trillion per year spent on education and training. Credential transparency enables stakeholders in learning and job ecosystems to explore and compare credentials in order to make better decisions about the best options for learning, advancement, and…

As part of its Partnership for Pre-K Improvement (PPI) initiative, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored the RAND Corporation to study the cost of high-quality pre-K programming. The RAND study included three states--Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington--that were partnering with the foundation under PPI. The objective of the study was to…

While research has documented outcomes for students served by promise programs, few studies have considered the behavior of institutions themselves in the promise era. A new source of revenue combined with larger and more diverse cohorts is likely to motivate changes in spending and staffing--decisions instrumental to student access and success.…

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020. It authorized more than $2 trillion to battle Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its economic effects. The CARES Act provides $31 billion for an Education Stabilization Fund to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19, domestically or…

We examine the impact of wind energy installation on school district finances and student achievement using data on the timing, location, and capacity of the universe of U.S. installations from 1995 through 2017. Wind energy installation substantially increased district revenues, causing large increases in capital outlays, but only modest…

Research has shown a mixed relationship between education and vaccination rates. In the current analysis, we aimed to determine the relationship between educational level and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination rates. We performed a cross-country analysis on data from 133 countries. Correlation analyses showed that higher and better…

For decades, educators and policy makers have decried low graduation rates at US colleges, advocating policies and making investments to improve graduation. We analyze a decade of Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data for four-year colleges to investigate how much institutions have improved their graduation rates from 2008…

The goal of equitable access to education was at the forefront of the Morrill Acts' mission from the beginning, yet Extension programs in Indigenous communities are underfunded and unable to provide equitable support. Educators from 1862 Land Grant Institutions can collaborate with educators from 1994 Tribal Colleges and Universities to better…

Congress provided more than $76 billion in total to eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs or institutions) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), including $40 billion through the American Rescue Plan. This report details HEERF spending in calendar year…

We estimate the effects of federal pandemic-relief funding (ESSER III) for K12 schools on district-level student achievement growth in 2023. We rely on student test achievement data from over 5,000 school districts across 30 states. Our novel identification strategy exploits variation in ESSER attributable to its allocation rules and their…

The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) annually submits a report outlining the method used in determining the coefficients for each site characteristic used to establish the transportation allocation for the following year. The Student Transportation Allocation Reporting System (STARS) will determine the 2024-25…

Since 2018, institutions of higher education have been aware of the "enrollment cliff" which refers to expected declines in future enrollment. This paper attempts to describe how prepared institutions in Ohio are for this future by looking at trends leading up to the anticipated decline. Using IPEDS data from 2012-2022, we analyze trends…

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 Office of Inspector General (OIG) consistently dedicates significant resources to the oversight of Federal student assistance programs programs due to the risks associated with their complexity, high levels of funding, large numbers of program participants, and reliance on contractors. Through the office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), the U.S.…

I compare per pupil revenues, expenditures, and performance levels in public charter schools to district-run public schools in Texas for the 2017-18 school year. After controlling for several school and student characteristics, I find that public charter schools are funded around $1,700 (15 percent) less, and spend around $3,700 (28 percent) less,…