IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v247y2025ics0165176524006116.html

Free food for thought: The effect of universal free school meals on graduation rates in the US

Author

Listed:
  • Zhao, Vivian

Abstract

This paper evaluates the impact of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) – which expanded free school meal access at low-income schools across the US – on high school graduation rates. Using education and demographic data, I compare within-school outcomes between 2011 and 2020. I find that CEP improved graduation rates by 1.506 percentage points (p = 0.024) at schools where a lower percentage of students were originally eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Further analysis shows that a single year of exposure improved graduation rates by 1.373 percentage points (p = 0.040) and exposure for over a year increased graduation rates by 1.787 percentage points (p = 0.039).

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao, Vivian, 2025. "Free food for thought: The effect of universal free school meals on graduation rates in the US," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:247:y:2025:i:c:s0165176524006116
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112127
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176524006116
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112127?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcus, Michelle & Yewell, Katherine G., 2022. "The Effect of Free School Meals on Household Food Purchases: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Davis, Will & Kreisman, Daniel & Musaddiq, Tareena, 2023. "The Effect of Universal Free School Meals on Child BMI," IZA Discussion Papers 16387, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Schneider, Kate R. & Oslund, Jennifer & Liu, Tiffany, 2021. "Impact of the Community Eligibility Provision Program on School Meal Participation in Texas," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313938, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Gundersen, Craig & Kreider, Brent & Pepper, John, 2012. "The impact of the National School Lunch Program on child health: A nonparametric bounds analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 166(1), pages 79-91.
    5. Krista Ruffini, 2022. "Universal Access to Free School Meals and Student Achievement: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 776-820.
    6. Gordanier, John & Ozturk, Orgul & Williams, Breyon & Zhan, Crystal, 2020. "Free Lunch for All! The Effect of the Community Eligibility Provision on Academic Outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Michah W. Rothbart & Amy Ellen Schwartz & Emily Gutierrez, 2023. "Paying for Free Lunch: The Impact of CEP Universal Free Meals on Revenues, Spending, and Student Health," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 18(4), pages 708-737, Fall.
    8. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Reed-Jones, Madeline & Hales, Laura J. & Burke, Michael P., 2024. "Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2023," Administrative Publications 344962, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Reed-Jones, Madeline & Hales, Laura J. & Burke, Michael P., 2024. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2023," Economic Research Report 344963, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ruffini, Krista & Öztürk, Orgül & Pekgün, Pelin, 2025. "In-kind government assistance and crowd-out of charitable services: Evidence from free school meals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    2. Kim, Yoonjung, 2025. "The effects of universal free lunch provision on student achievement: Evidence from South Korea," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    3. Kashyap, Pratyoosh & Jablonski, Becca B. R., 2023. "Diffusion of Universal Free School Meals in the United States: Examining Factors Influencing Adoption of Community Eligibility Provision," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335700, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. repec:ags:aaea22:335700 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Bonomo, Therese & Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2024. "Trends in the school lunch program: Changes in selection, nutrition & health," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    6. Craig Gundersen, 2025. "Promoting dignity and autonomy in NSLP and WIC: Lessons learned from the success of SNAP," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(1), pages 80-96, March.
    7. Davis, Will & Kreisman, Daniel & Musaddiq, Tareena, 2023. "The Effect of Universal Free School Meals on Child BMI," IZA Discussion Papers 16387, IZA Network @ LISER.
    8. Blau, Sarah J. & Tovar, Alison & Pearlman, Deborah N. & Weeks, Heidi M. & Ali, Jeneen & Bauer, Katherine W., 2025. "“It makes you feel worthless.” The lived experience of discrimination in the US food assistance system," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 372(C).
    9. Zhao, Yiwen & Fan, Linlin & Wilson, Norbert L.W. & Valderrama, Angélica Valdés & Wilde, Parke, 2025. "Variations on the Thrifty Food Plan: Model diets that satisfy cost and nutrition constraints," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    10. Brown, Alyssa, 2024. "Who takes up a free lunch? Summer Food Service Program availability and household grocery food spending," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    11. Bitler, Marianne & Currie, Janet & Hoynes, Hilary & Ruffini, Krista & Schulkind, Lisa & Willage, Barton, 2025. "Effects of school meals on nutrition: Evidence from the start of the school year," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    12. Marcus, Michelle & Yewell, Katherine G., 2022. "The Effect of Free School Meals on Household Food Purchases: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Alderman, Harold & Aurino, Elisabetta & Baffour, Priscilla Twumasi & Gelli, Aulo & Turkson, Festus Ebo & Wong, Brad, 2025. "Assessing the overall benefits of programs enhancing human capital and equity: a new method with an application to school meals," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    14. Pratyoosh Kashyap & Becca B. R. Jablonski, 2025. "Universal free school meals: Examining factors influencing adoption of the Community Eligibility Provision," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(1), pages 199-216, March.
    15. Joseph Owuondo, 2023. "Influence of State on Education, Innovation, and Industry Development: State of California Policy Impact Analysis," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 10(10), pages 107-114, October.
    16. Poczta-Wajda, Agnieszka & Guth, Marta, 2024. "Challenges to Household Food Security – Experiences from European Union Countries," Roczniki (Annals), Polish Association of Agricultural Economists and Agribusiness - Stowarzyszenie Ekonomistow Rolnictwa e Agrobiznesu (SERiA), vol. 2024(4).
    17. Kaspar W thrich, 2013. "Set Identification of Generalized Linear Predictors in the Presence of Non-Classical Measurement Errors," Diskussionsschriften dp1304, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    18. Zhao, Chunkai & Chen, Boou & Song, Zhiyong, 2024. "School nutritious feeding and cognitive abilities of students in poverty: Evidence from the nutrition improvement program in China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    19. Ishdorj, Ariun & Crepinsek, Mary Kay & Jensen, Helen H., "undated". "Children’s Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables: Do School Environment and Policies Affect Choice in School Meals?," 2012 AAEA/EAAE Food Environment Symposium 123534, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Irma Arteaga & Colleen Heflin & Sarah Parsons, 2019. "Design Flaws: Consequences of the Coverage Gap in Food Programs for Children at Kindergarten Entry," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 265-283, June.
    21. Giorgio Brunello & Dimitris Christelis & Anna Sanz‐de‐Galdeano & Anastasia Terskaya, 2024. "Does college selectivity reduce obesity? A partial identification approach," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(10), pages 2306-2320, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:247:y:2025:i:c:s0165176524006116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.