Abstract
While Pre-K enrollment has expanded rapidly over the last decade, there is little evidence to date regarding the long-run effects of statewide universal preschool programs, only studies of programs targeted at more at-risk populations (e.g. Head Start and Perry Preschool) that are often more resource-intensive. I estimate the impact of Oklahoma’s universal prekindergarten program (UPK) on later criminal activity, an outcome that accounted for 40-65% of the large estimated long-run benefits of Perry Preschool. I assemble data on criminal charges in the state of Oklahoma and identify the effect of UPK availability using a regression discontinuity design that leverages the birthdate cutoff for UPK in the program’s first year of implementation. I find significant negative impacts of UPK availability on the likelihood that black children are later charged with a crime at age 18 or 19 of 7 percentage points for misdemeanors and 5 percentage points for felonies. I find no impact on the likelihood of later charges for white children. The results suggest that universal Pre-K can, like more targeted programs, have dramatic effects on later criminal outcomes, but these effects are concentrated among more at-risk populations.
Published Version
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