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A Benefit-Cost Analysis Of The Tulsa Universal Pre-K Program, Timothy J. Bartik, Jonathan A. Belford, William T. Gormley, Sara Anderson
A Benefit-Cost Analysis Of The Tulsa Universal Pre-K Program, Timothy J. Bartik, Jonathan A. Belford, William T. Gormley, Sara Anderson
Timothy J. Bartik
In this paper, benefits and costs are estimated for a universal pre-K program, provided by Tulsa Public Schools. Benefits are derived from estimated effects of Tulsa pre-K on retention by grade 9. Retention effects are projected to dollar benefits from future earnings increases and crime reductions. Based on these estimates, Tulsa pre-K has benefits exceeding costs by about 2-to-1. This benefit cost ratio is far less than the benefit-cost ratios (ranging from 8-to-1 to 16-to-1) for more targeted and intensive pre-K programs from the 1970s and 80s, such as Perry Preschool and the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) program. Comparing benefit-cost …