By Carmen Pannone, University of Cagliari (Italy)
Previous research has shown that early childhood education (ECE) programs have significant short-term impacts on children’s early skills. However, the evidence regarding the link between public pre-K programs and college enrollment has been limited. To address this gap, a recent study utilized data from Tulsa to investigate whether two public ECE programs could predict future college enrollment. The study included 4,033 students who entered the Tulsa Public Schools’ kindergarten program in 2006, with around 40% attending the TPS pre-K program, 11% attending the CAP of Tulsa County Head Start program, and the rest not attending any documented programs. College enrollment data were obtained from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to include students who enrolled in college during the 2019–2020 or 2020–2021 school years.
Results showed that attending TPS pre-K program significantly increased the likelihood of both 2-year and 4-year college enrollment. Similar findings were observed in the increased likelihood of attending any higher education institution, with a boost of 12.1 percentage points.. A smaller and marginal association was found between Head Start attendance and the likelihood of 4-year college enrollment, but not 2-year college enrollment. However, the likelihood of enrolling in any college or university was 7.5 percentage points higher for Head Start attendees compared to those who did not attend either TPS pre-K or Head Start.
Subgroup analyses showed that TPS pre-K attendance was associated with increased college enrollment across various racial, gender, and lunch status subgroups. Participation in Tulsa’s public ECE initiatives is associated with an increased likelihood of enrolling in a postsecondary educational institution within two years of high school graduation, thereby connecting these programs to crucial life outcomes like upward mobility.
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