Participation in a National,

Abstract

We use data from a sample of applicants to a national means-tested school voucher program and a national sample of the population eligible for the program to eval-uate the factors leading families to use school vouchers. Our analysis divides the process of voucher usage into two distinct stages: initial application and subse-quent take-up. Using a nested logit model, we find that some factors, like religious affiliation and religious service attendance, affect both stages. Others, like mother’s education, affect only one (application). Still others, like ethnicity, have opposite effects at the two stages. Compared to Whites, minorities are more likely to apply for vouchers, but less likely to take them when given the opportunity. © 2005 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management The Supreme Court’s 2002 decision in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris that Cleveland’s means-tested school voucher program passes constitutional muster has intensified interest in this policy innovation. Much public discussion about the impact of vouchers centers on the critical question of who would use vouchers to switch thei