Research

Job Market Paper

The Long-Term Effects of Universal Free School Meal Policies: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision

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 high-poverty schools to offer 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, I detect no improvements in academic, behavioral, or economic outcomes overall or across most subgroups, in either the short or long run. Applying the marginal value of public funds framework, I show that the costs of CEP exceed its benefits, suggesting limited efficiency gains from universal provision relative to targeted support.

Work in Progress

• Effects of Work Requirements in Means-Tested Programs
  (with Hyewon Kim and Pauline Leung)
  Draft forthcoming pending Census Bureau disclosure review

• The Effect of High School Magnet Programs on Academic and Racial Segregation
  (with Katharine Sadowski)
  Approved Texas Education Research Center project

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