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Distribution of Education Savings Accounts Usage Among Families: Evidence from the Florida Gardiner Program

Michelle L. Lofton,
Martin F. Lueken

Education savings accounts (ESAs) are education funding mechanisms that allow for families to receive a deposit of public funds to a government-authorized savings account. Using student-level longitudinal data, this paper examines how families participating in the Florida Gardiner Scholarship Program use education savings account funds. Results indicate that families use an increasing proportion of ESA funds the longer students remain in the program. The longer students remain in the program, the share of ESA funds devoted to private school tuition decreases while expenditure shares increase for curriculum, instruction, tutoring, and specialized services. Students in rural areas not only use a greater portion of their ESA funds than families in urban and suburban areas, but they also spend smaller portions of their funds on tuition and appear to customize more.

Keywords
Education Savings Accounts (ESA), Florida Gardiner Scholarship Program, School choice, Education customization, Education funding
Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
School Choice
Tags
Equity
Download 06/2021
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/baz8-7757
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Lofton, Michelle L., and Martin F. Lueken. (). Distribution of Education Savings Accounts Usage Among Families: Evidence from the Florida Gardiner Program. (EdWorkingPaper: -426). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/baz8-7757

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