@EdWorkingPaper{ai26-1565,
title = "Expanded High-Speed Broadband Internet Access at Home and Student Achievement: Evidence from a Federal Subsidy Program",
author = "Nicolas Pardo, Jared N. Schachner, Hernan Galperin, François Bar",
number = "1565",
year = "2026",
month = "September",
URL = "http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1565",
abstract = {Policymakers have argued that expanding home broadband would improve educational outcomes. However, prior studies report mixed, null, or negative effects on achievement, with limited post-pandemic evidence. Using district-level achievement and enrollment data from a national broadband subsidy program serving 23 million low-income households, we examine whether increased uptake is associated with reading/language arts (RLA) and math achievement among economically disadvantaged (ECD) students across 7,825 districts from 2021–22 to 2023–24. Two-way fixed-effects estimates indicate that doubling subsidy uptake is associated with a 0.02 SD decline in math achievement and a 0.05 SD decline in RLA achievement, equivalent to 3.3% and 8.3% of the ECD/non-ECD gap. A placebo test using non-ECD students and an instrumental variables specification support these findings.},
}