The Effects of a Universal Preschool Program in California
RAND_RB9164.1.pdf
In a prior study, RAND researchers estimated that a high-quality, one-year, voluntary, universal preschool program in California could generate for California society $2.62 in benefits for every dollar of cost.
For each annual cohort of four-year-olds (approximately 550,000 children), the study estimated that California society would receive $2.7 billion in present-value net benefits. Benefits for each cohort of four-year-olds were also estimated in non-monetary terms.
These benefits include nearly 14,000 fewer children ever retained in grade; 9,100 fewer children ever using special education; 10,000 fewer high-school dropouts; 4,700 fewer children with a substantiated case of abuse or neglect; and 7,300 fewer children with a juvenile petition (i.e., a juvenile arrest that leads to a court filing).
