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The Long-Run Payoff of Universal ESAs in Texas. Fiscal Brief

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Long-Run Payoff of Universal ESAs in Texas. Fiscal Brief
Language: English
Authors: Michael Q. McShane, Martin F. Lueken, EdChoice, Fiscal Research & Education Center (FREC)
Source: EdChoice. 2026.
Availability: EdChoice. 111 Monument Circle Suite 2650, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Tel: 317-681-0745; e-mail: info@edchoice.org; Web site: http://www.edchoice.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 9
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Descriptors: School Choice, Public Education, Eligibility, State Programs, Program Effectiveness, Educational Finance, Educational Attainment, Elementary Secondary Education, Private Education
Geographic Terms: Texas
Abstract: Private school choice programs have been repeatedly found to increase both high school graduation, college matriculation, and college graduation rates, for both participating students and for students who remain in public schools. All three of those are associated with higher lifetime earnings (and thus higher tax payments), and a host of other positive outcomes from longer, healthier life expectancies to decreased risks of either committing or being the victim of a crime. This brief takes a long view and makes a good-faith effort to estimate the benefits of an Education Savings Account (ESA) program that accumulate over cohorts of students in Texas as they move through grades K through 12, based on empirical research on choice programs and benefits associated with educational attainment outcomes.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED680960
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Private school choice programs have been repeatedly found to increase both high school graduation, college matriculation, and college graduation rates, for both participating students and for students who remain in public schools. All three of those are associated with higher lifetime earnings (and thus higher tax payments), and a host of other positive outcomes from longer, healthier life expectancies to decreased risks of either committing or being the victim of a crime. This brief takes a long view and makes a good-faith effort to estimate the benefits of an Education Savings Account (ESA) program that accumulate over cohorts of students in Texas as they move through grades K through 12, based on empirical research on choice programs and benefits associated with educational attainment outcomes.