Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of...
Washington DC’s Opportunity Scholarship Program (Vouchers for Low-Income Students to Attend Private School)
Reviewed
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (September 2023) published long-term RCT findings for Washington DC’s Opportunity Scholarship program, which provides scholarships (i.e., vouchers) to low-income students to attend private school. This high-quality RCT with a sample of students entering grades 2-12 in 2004-2005 found no discernible long-term impact on college enrollment rates.
Washington, DC’s Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), the only federally funded school voucher program in the United States, has provided private school scholarships to low-income students in DC since 2004. From its inception, the program has received significant attention in national debates and has been the subject of rigorous evaluations mandated by Congress. We conduct an experimental evaluation of the effect of the OSP on college enrollment by comparing the college enrollment rates of students offered a scholarship in lotteries held in 2004 and 2005 with those of students who applied but did not win a scholarship. Students who won scholarships to attend private schools were not significantly more or less likely to enroll in college than students who did not.
We have no suggested revisions to the study’s published abstract.
No-Spin’s Study Overview
High-quality RCT of Washington DC’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers for low-income students to attend private school, finds no discernible long-term impact on college enrollment rates.
Program:
- The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, created by Congress in 2004, provides scholarships (i.e., vouchers) to low-income DC families to attend private schools. In 2004-2005, when children entered the study, scholarship amounts were capped at $7,500 per year (approximately $13,000 in 2025 dollars).
Study Design:
- The study sample comprised 1,780 students entering grades 2-12 who applied for a voucher in 2004 or 2005. A randomized lottery was used to determine who was offered a voucher (treatment) and who wasn't (control).
- 87% of sample members were Black, 10% were Hispanic, and 51% were male. They averaged 12 years old and their average family income was approximately $18,000. 71% of lottery winners used their voucher to attend private school for at least 1 year.
- Based on careful review, this was a high-quality RCT (e.g., baseline balance, negligible sample attrition, valid analyses).
Findings:
- The study found no discernible impact on the rate of college enrollment within two years of students’ expected high school graduation. The college enrollment rate was 43.0% for the treatment group versus 45.5% for the control group - a difference that wasn't statistically significant.
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