Promise scholarship programs as place-making policy: Evidence from school enrollment and housing prices

Place-based “Promise” scholarship programs-which guarantee financial aid for qualifying graduates of a school district-have proliferated in recent years. Using data from multiple sites, we compare the evolution of school enrollment and residential real estate prices around program announcement dates within Promise-eligible and surrounding areas. While our estimates indicate that enrollment increased following Promise announcements, merit-based programs generated relative increases in white enrollment. Housing prices respond strongly in neighborhoods with better primary schools and in the upper half of the housing price distribution. We conclude that these programs have important and under-studied distributional considerations.