Research

Job Market Paper

The Long-Term Effects of Universal Free School Meal Policies: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision
[Abstract | Draft Forthcoming]

School meal policies in the United States are at a crossroads: half of public K–12 schools provide universal free meals to all students, regardless of income, while the other half offer free and reduced-price (FRP) meals based on income eligibility. Do universal policies improve student outcomes compared to targeted policies for low-income children? I evaluate the short- and long-term effects of universal free school meal policies using linked administrative data from Texas. I exploit the staggered rollout of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a federal policy that allows schools to provide meals free to all students. I find that CEP increases meal take-up by 6.2 percentage points (10 percent). Higher-income students previously ineligible for FRP are more responsive to CEP than low-income students already eligible under FRP. Despite the increase in take-up, CEP has no discernible impact on academic, behavioral, or economic outcomes overall or across most subgroups, in either the short or long run. I quantify the trade-offs between CEP’s modest benefits and higher program costs using the marginal value of public funds framework (MVPF).

Work in Progress

• Effects of Work Requirements in Means-Tested Programs (with Hyewon Kim and Pauline Leung) [Abstract | Draft Forthcoming]

• Work Requirements in SNAP and Postsecondary Enrollment (with Meredith Welch)

• Examining Magnet Program Expansions on Student, School, and Residential Outcomes in Texas (with Katharine Sadowski)