Free Lunch for All! The Effect of the Community Eligibility Provision on Academic Outcomes

John Gordanier, Orgul Ozturk, Breyon Williams and Crystal Zhan

Economics of Education Review, 2020, vol. 77, issue C

Abstract: We analyze the effect of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a universal free-lunch program, on elementary and middle school students' academic performance and attendance in the state of South Carolina. As part of the program, eligible schools can provide free lunches to all students, regardless of whether an individual student qualifies for free or reduced lunch. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we show that CEP leads to about 0.06 of a standard deviation increase in math test scores for elementary school students. We find smaller effects on reading scores and on middle school students. These effects also vary by student poverty, school poverty, and locality. In particular, we find students that were previously eligible for free lunches but not on other public assistance programs benefit the most from CEP. The results may suggest that the expansion of access to free lunch help improve students' academic outcomes.

Keywords: School Meals; Academic Performance; CEP; Free Lunch; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H52 I24 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:77:y:2020:i:c:s0272775719307605

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.101999

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