With early education shown to boost future earning potential but few states offering free preschool programs, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2024’s States with the Best & Worst Early Education Systems, as well as expert commentary.

In order to determine the best early education systems in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. The data set ranges from the share of school districts that offer a state pre-K program to the number of pre-K quality benchmarks met and total reported spending per child enrolled in pre-K.

Quality of Early Education in New Jersey (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

• Overall Rank: 8^th
• 3^rd – Share of 3- and 4-year-olds Enrolled in pre-K, pre-K Special Education and Head Start
• 29^th – Income Requirement for State Pre-K Eligibility
• 1^st – Total Reported Spending per Child Enrolled in Preschool
• 5^th – Total State Head Start Program Spending per Child Enrolled in Preschool
• 1^st – Monthly Child Care Co-Payment Fees as a Percent of Family Income

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-and-worst-early-education-systems/62668