Bailey, M.J., Sun S. and Timpe, B.  <br/><br/>
Prep school for poor kids: The long-run impacts of head start on human capital and economic self-sufficiency 

 - The American Economic Review   
 - 111(12), Dec, 2021: p.3963-4001 
<br/><br/> This paper evaluates the long-run effects of Head Start using large-scale, restricted administrative data. Using the county roll-out of Head Start between 1965 and 1980 and age-eligibility cutoffs for school entry, we find that Head Start generated large increases in adult human capital and economic self-sufficiency, including a 0.65-year increase in schooling, a 2.7 percent increase in high school completion, an 8.5 percent increase in college enrollment, and a 39 percent increase in college completion. These estimates imply sizable, long-term returns to investments in means-tested, public preschool programs. – Reproduced