EDU011 English as a Second Language (ESL) education leading to increased annual earnings

Number of participants completing a year of ESL: Reported by program.

Percentage of participants who get ESL classes solely because of program: Computed by the Constellation Fund staff.

Impact of ESL programs on annual earnings: [15%] for high-quality programs and [6%] for low-quality programs. The Constellation Fund staff estimate these parameters using an ordinary least square regression with the following parameters:

• Population: Non-US citizens under 185% of poverty in the Twin Cities metropolitan area from ACS data (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016).
• Dependent variable: Log of average annual earnings.
• Independent variables: English speaking level, education, race & ethnicity, age, and age-squared.

The high impact of 15% is the percentage change in average annual earnings associated with going from “not speaking English at all” to “speaking well.” The low impact of 6% is the percentage change in average annual earnings associated with going from “not speaking English at all” to “speaking not well.”

Average annual earnings of individuals who do not speak English: [$23,662], The is the average annual earnings of individuals who don’t speak English, are not citizens, and are under 185% of the federal poverty level computed using ACS data (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016).

Number of working years: Estimate from participation age to age 65.

These benefits are then discounted to present value.