Colombia’s Targeted Education Voucher Program: Features, Coverage, and Participation

Abstract

--This report describes and reviews Colombia's secondary school voucher program. The program which is targeted at poor students has reached more than 100,000 students since it began in 1992. The cost of the vouchers is shared by central and local governments, with the central government financing 80 percent and participating municipalities financing the rest. Not all municipalities have joined the program, but participation is more common among those that have a greater demand for secondary education, where the public school capacity to meet this demand is limited, and where there is a larger private sector presence. As intended by the designers of the program, the private schools that have elected to participate in the program tend to be those who serve poorer families. Yet, these schools appear to offer an education that is at least of comparable quality to that offered in public schools --at a lower cost to the government than public schools.