Adolescent Literacy Programs: Costs of Implementation

Reviews the literature on implementation of educational reforms and compares implementation processes and costs at schools that have adopted one of three literacy reforms. Includes recommendations for detailed resource planning and cost accounting

The Economics of Education

A comprehensive survey of the history and contemporary issues in the economics of education, and especially cost effectiveness research. Designed for courses on the economics of education

The Costs to the Nation of Inadequate Education: A Report Prepared for the Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity of the United States Senate

The purpose of this study was to estimate the costs to the nation of the inadequate education of a substantial portion of the population, where an inadequate education for the latter third of the twentieth century was defined as an attainment of less than high school graduation. Using data from the Department of Commerce and other sources in conjunction with extensive research literature from the social sciences, this report obtained the following findings: (1) The failure to attain a minimum of high school completion among the population of males 24 to 34 years of age in 1969 was estimated to cost the nation 237 billion dollars in income over the lifetime of these men; and, 71 billion dollars in foregone government revenues; (2) In contrast, the probable costs of having provided a minimum of high school completion for this group of men was estimated to be about 40 billion dollars; (3) Welfare expenditures attributable to inadequate education are estimated to be about three billion dollars each year and are probably increasing over time; and, (4) The costs to the nation of crime that is related to inadequate education appears to be about three billion dollars a year and rising

The Economic Payoff to Investing in Educational Justice

The quest for educational equity is a moral imperative for a society in which education is a crucial determinant of life chances. Yet whether there is an economic return to the taxpayer for investing in educational justice is often not considered. It is possible that the economic benefits of reducing inadequate education exceed the costs, returning a healthy dividend to the taxpayer. This article addresses a four-decade quest to ascertain the fiscal consequences of investing in effective approaches to reduce inadequate education in the United States. It uses economic analysis to calculate both the costs of effective strategies to raise high school graduation rates and their benefits to the taxpayer in higher tax revenues and reduced costs of criminal justice, public health, and public assistance. The results suggest that improving educational justice provides substantial returns to taxpayers that exceed the costs

Cost-effectiveness of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) of the City University of New York (CUNY)

Although community colleges enroll almost half of the students engaged in postsecondary education, they have poor success in student completion of degrees. Nationally it appears that less than a quarter of community college students obtain the two-year associate degree, and the success rate is even lower in urban community colleges. In response, the City University of New York (CUNY) evaluated the obstacles to degree completion and responded by establishing the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP). ASAP attempts to assist students in overcoming financial, academic, and scheduling difficulties that undermine degree attainment. An early evaluation of ASAP students over three years found that in comparison with a matched group of students in six community colleges of CUNY, the graduation rates doubled from about a quarter of students completing to more than half. But ASAP does require additional financial resources. The purpose of this study was to undertake a cost-effectiveness analysis to see if the additional costs were compensated by a higher graduation rate sufficient to justify those costs. The cost of producing an additional graduate in the comparison group without ASAP was compared with the cost when ASAP was provided. The conclusion is that ASAP is so much more effective in producing additional graduates in a timely fashion and that the cost per graduate for ASAP is comparable to or less than that of the traditional approach. ASAP can increase considerably the number of CUNY community college graduates while actually reducing costs

The Costs of Computer-Assisted Instruction

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the costs and cost feasibility of utilizing computer-assisted instruction (CAI) for compensatory education. Cost data were collected from an experiment on the effectiveness of CA1 that had been established in Los Angeles and sponsored by the National Institute of Education. Based upon the resource ingredients approach to measuring costs, it was found that up to three daily lo-minute sessions of drill and practice could be provided for each disadvantaged child within the 1977- 1978 allocation of funds from Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. If the computer system were shared between two schools, the higher costs would permit only two daily sessions. Costs were also estimated for a more advanced CA1 system, and somewhat surprisingly the costs were in the same range. This finding reflects the very heavy costs of “software” that do not seem to decline with more advanced technologies. Also, it is possible that the latter technology will be found to be more effective at the same cost level. However, because comparative effectiveness data between the CA1 approach and other instructional strategies are not readily available, such cost-effectiveness comparisons will have to be deferred until some future date

Benefit-Cost Analysis of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) of the City University of New York (CUNY)

This study evaluates CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) from a benefit-cost perspective. ASAP is designed to accelerate degree completion within three years at community colleges. This report builds on the CUNY evaluations of ASAP, which provide consistent evidence for the dramatic success of ASAP on increasing the timely completion of associate degrees. Although ASAP requires more resources per student than the traditional associate program, the cost per graduate was found to be lower because of its much higher effectiveness in producing graduates. The benefit-cost analysis of ASAP enables us to calculate the monetary costs and benefits of this intervention with particular emphasis on the financial returns to the taxpayer. We estimate the benefits arising from higher tax revenues and lower costs of spending on public health, criminal justice, and public assistance and compare them with the required investment for ASAP. The estimates show that there are large financial returns on ASAP investment for the taxpayer and for the students in the program. In all cases, the benefits exceeded the costs. For each dollar of investment in ASAP by taxpayers, the return was between three and four dollars and around twelve dollars for each dollar invested by the individuals, suggesting that ASAP is a very productive public and private investment. When applied to the much higher ability of ASAP to produce high graduation rates, the overall returns to the taxpayer are impressive. A cohort of 1,000 students enrolled in ASAP would generate fiscal benefits for the taxpayer of more than $46 million beyond those of investing an approximately equal amount in the conventional degree program. This is a very substantial monetary return for this educational intervention