“We celebrate the outcomes that this well-researched report shows as it further demonstrates the need for expanded educational freedom for all families and students in Ohio,” said School Choice Ohio president Rabbi Eric “Yitz” Frank.
The study followed more than 6,000 eligible students for the state’s EdChoice program and those who attended between 2007-2008 and 2013-2014. The original program, which has been significantly expanded, was for students attending “failing” schools, generally inner-city school buildings in Dayton Public, Cincinnati Public Schools, or Columbus City Schools.
Those students were compared to about 500,000 students with similar demographics who stayed in public schools.
Since the 2023-2024 school year, all students in Ohio are eligible for EdChoice Expansion regardless of income, though families with incomes above 450% of the federal poverty level get less than the full amount.
The study also considered race, gender, poverty, special education status and previous test scores as variables but did not find statistically significant discontinuities in those characteristics.
The study found 23% of EdChoice students earned a bachelor’s degree compared with 15% of the comparison students.
David Figlio, a professor of economics at the University of Rochester and one of the study’s co-authors, said the authors took extensive steps to try to piece out possible reasons why EdChoice students saw significant results.
The study also found that the students who remained in public schools and were eligible for EdChoice had a small effect on college enrollment. Those students were about three percentage points more likely to enroll in college and six percentage points more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than nonparticipants at public schools who were not eligible, according to the study.
“So, especially for the public schools that were near the line — that is, the schools that were relatively high-performing, as measured by the state, but still sufficiently low-performing for students to become eligible for vouchers, there is very good evidence that the EdChoice program led to across-the-board improvements in the likelihood that students would attend and complete college,” Figlio said.
Figlio noted he found similarly positive results on state tests for students whose schools were eligible for vouchers but stayed in public schools.
Previous studies have found modest positive impacts on test scores for students who stay in public schools eligible for EdChoice. But studies of programs in several states, including Ohio, found negative impact on voucher participants’ state test scores. A 2021 study found no statistically significant effects of voucher participation on college enrollment in Louisiana.
A separate study 2019 found positive impacts on college enrollment and graduation in Florida and Milwaukee.
Previous Cox First Media reporting found when EdChoice Expansion allowed students with any income to enter, rather than previous limits based on income, the number of students using EdChoice Expansion more than tripled from 23,272 students to 88,095.
The number of income-based EdChoice vouchers used in private schools in six area counties — Montgomery, Miami, Greene, Warren, Butler and Clark — jumped from 3,058 in the 2022-2023 school year to 12,637 in 2023-2024.
However, while voucher usage grew by 313%, enrollment at schools that accept vouchers grew by only 3.7%, to 20,142 students.
The study notes that a significant number of Ohio’s voucher students are higher-income, which their research does not address.
“The case for optimism is that our results add to a growing evidence base that voucher programs can improve important long-run outcomes for low-income students, even if those programs reduce test scores in the short run,” the study said. “But the significant differences between the targeted programs that have produced this encouraging evidence and the universal programs currently being expanded across the country mean that more evidence is needed to verify that these strong results will continue.”
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