EdChoice, one of the national leaders in education choice advocacy and research, has released a new, updated “in-depth review of the available research on private school choice programs in America.”
The 123s of School Choice, originally published in 2019 and updated this June, gathers information from 203 empirical studies on choice programs—including vouchers, education savings accounts (ESAs), and tax-credit scholarships—published from 1998 to February 2025.
Of the 203 studies, 175 of them, or 86 percent, show these programs have a positive effect. Just 15 studies, or seven percent, show a negative effect, while 20 studies, or 10 percent, show no visible effect.
The report breaks these studies down into eight categories in two separate groups. The first group covers the personal benefits experienced by children and families utilizing choice programs. This includes participant test scores, participant educational attainment (whether they are more likely to graduate high school and attend college), parental satisfaction, and school safety.
Of the 22 studies on test scores, only four show any negative effect from the program in question, and 13 show a positive effect on test scores. Six of the eight studies on educational attainment show positive results, while two find no visible effect. Of the 33 studies on parental satisfaction, 31 find choice parents are more satisfied with their choice school than their previous school. Finally, all eight studies on school safety and climate show a positive effect from choice programs.
The second group covers the community and societal benefits of choice programs. This includes the fiscal effects of the programs, their effect on integration, how they affect participating students’ civic values and practices, and the effects these programs have on the test scores of students remaining in public schools.
Seventy-seven of the 83 studies on the fiscal effects of these programs find a positive fiscal benefit from choice programs, with seven finding a negative effect. Seven of eight studies find choice programs increase school integration, with the other finding no statistical effect. Another six of 11 studies find choice programs improve students’ civic values and practices, with five showing a null effect. Lastly, 27 of 30 studies find the choice programs improve the test scores of students remaining in public schools, with one finding no effect, and two finding a negative effect.
It is probably for these reasons, and also because teacher unions repeatedly played politics with school closings during the COVID-19 pandemic in direct conflict with students’ best interests, that education choice is more popular with parents than ever before. Polling done by EdChoice for their ongoing “Public Opinion Tracker,” last updated on July 8, finds nearly three-fourths of all adults are in favor of ESAs, for example.
The overwhelming empirical evidence presented in this report shows choice programs offer families improved access to high-quality schools that meet their children’s unique needs and circumstances. Further, the programs produce benefits to society at large and help improve test scores for public school students. Therefore, legislators should create new education choice programs or expand existing ones so that more students have the opportunity to enroll in these valuable programs.
Heartland Impact can send an expert to your state to testify or brief your caucus; host an event in your state; or send you further information on a topic. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance! If you have any questions or comments, contact Cameron Sholty, at csholty@heartlandimpact.org or 312/377- 4000.
