Key Takeaway: Report's projected economic gains and private school enrollment increases are overstated and unsupported by evidence.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI (MAY 20, 2026)
- The Common Sense Institute recently published a report declaring large potential benefits of the federal education tax-credit voucher program created through President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill. However, the report's claims about the improvements the program would create for Colorado are unlikely to materialize.
Joydeep Roy of Teachers College, Columbia University explains why in his review of The Economic Impact from Colorado's Choice to Participate in the "Education Freedom Tax Credit" Provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
As part of the legislation passed in July 2025, the federal government established a nationwide tax credit for contributions to so-called scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs) that can fund some K-12 educational expenses. Taxpayers can receive a credit of $1,700 each year for these donations. Although key rules are still being drafted by the Trump administration, eligible families given a voucher by a private SGO will likely be able to use these funds on a range of educational expenses, including private school tuition, tutoring, transportation, instructional materials, and courses offered at either private or public educational institutions.
The Common Sense Institute report claims significant benefits will emerge for Colorado when-pursuant to the intentions of Gov. Polis-it opts into the program starting in 2027. The report predicts that the tax credits will boost incomes, create jobs, generate additional revenue for public schools, and increase private school enrollment.
However, many of these hypothesized benefits are unlikely. The methods used in the report's economic impact model leave important questions unanswered, and it relies on speculative assumptions about participation and economic effects. For instance, participation rates in similar scholarship programs have historically been much lower than the report predicts for Colorado, raising doubts about the report's assumptions and conclusions. (Neither the report nor the review addresses the program's long-term impact on the health of the state's public education system.)
Ultimately, Professor Roy concludes, the report provides little value in fostering an informed, evidence-based policy debate about the likely economic effects of the federal education tax credit program in Colorado.
Find the review, written by Joydeep Roy, at:
https://www.greatlakescenter.org
Find The Economic Impact from Colorado's Choice to Participate in the "Education Freedom Tax Credit" Provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, written by Thomas Young and Jimena Sanchez and published by the Common Sense Institute, at: https://www.commonsenseinstituteus.org/colorado/research/education/the-economic-impact-from-colorados-choice-to-participate-in-the-education-freedom-tax-credit-provision-in-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act
NEPC Reviews (https://nepc.colorado.edu/reviews) provide the public, policymakers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of selected publications. NEPC Reviews are made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: https://www.greatlakescenter.org.
