@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp18168,
            	author={Merola, Emily and Phillips, David and Turner, Patrick S},
            	title={Reversing the School to Prison Pipeline: The Impact of an Adult High School Program},
            	year={2025},
	month={Oct},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={18168},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp18168},
	abstract={The criminal justice system primarily arrests and incarcerates people without high school diplomas. We estimate the causal effect of a high school diploma on criminal justice system contact for a set of people who previously exited high school but then attended The Excel Center (TEC), a network of high schools for adults. Compared to those who apply but do not enroll, students who enroll but exit without a diploma do not experience a decline in criminal charges. Criminal charges for students who complete a diploma, on the other hand, decline by 49% the year following application, an effect which largely persists for at least five years. These effects are sufficiently large to increase the cost-effectiveness of the program by 2-5 times. The pattern of effects also suggests that, beyond simple incapacitation, getting an adult high school diploma itself leads to lower contact with the criminal justice system.},
	keywords={GED;high school diploma;returns to education;human capital;crime},
            }