Overview

Education programs cover a variety of interventions designed to improve the accessibility, effectiveness and quality of education, which interventions are expected to contribute to increased employment and beneficiary incomes. As such, MCC uses data by UNESCO regarding girls’ primary school completion rates as one of the criteria to determine a country’s performance on MCC’s “Investing in People” indicator. MCC has funded education activities ranging from improving school infrastructure to developing new curricula for career training in vocational education.

More specifically, MCC is involved in financing education programs on two different fronts. First, MCC may fund education programs in countries seeking to improve their performance on the Investing in People indicator through its Threshold Program. Two countries have received assistance through the Threshold Program to improve their respective scores on the indicator for girls’ primary school completion rate. Second, once a country is determined eligible for a compact, MCC may fund education programs in the applicable five-year Compact programs.

The economic benefits of investments in education are widely documented. As students gain increased skills, their employment opportunities and incomes improve. Investments in education are also important for a country’s prosperity, providing long-term economic benefits for individuals and communities as well as for regional and national economies. As students apply their portfolio of skills on the job, the productivity of the labor force increases.

It is commonly accepted that education has both private and public, or social, benefits. Schooling produces positive external effects, including technological development, higher economic growth, income distribution and better health, but also social cohesion, less crime, more democracy, philanthropy and political participation.

Although the benefits of education are clear, education projects can be challenging to evaluate. Because many of the benefits are long term, they may not become apparent for many years. For example, gains in income resulting from more education often are only realized when a student finds a job after completing school. Additionally, the benefits to society from education programs, such as increased employment and productivity, can be difficult to measure and separate from broader macroeconomic trends.

Logic Model

MCC Impact Evaluations in Progress

Sort the table by clicking on the column headers. Arrows indicate ascending and descending order.

Country	Project/Activity	Focus of Evaluation	Methodology
Burkina Faso	Threshold Program	What is the impact of school construction and other complementary interventions on primary school enrollment and completion rates? The evaluation will also assess food consumption and resource allocation within households.	Regression discontinuity
El Salvador	Human Development Project	What is the impact of improved technical middle schools on completion rates, employment, and income?	Matching
Ghana	Community Services Activity	What is the impact of increased access to schools and water and sanitation facilities on school enrollment, student outcomes and health?	Regression discontinuity
Niger	Threshold Program	Do the program interventions, independently or in combination, result in increases in girls’ primary education enrollment, attendance and completion rates?	TBD