Universal-Free and Eligibility-based School Breakfast Programs in Guilford County, NC: Student Outcomes

The Guilford County Schools (GCS) in North Carolina offered universal-free breakfasts under the School Breakfast Program (SBP) in 2007-08 in elementary schools with high proportions of economically disadvantaged students. In 2008-09, the GCS reduced its universal-free programs, with the affected schools returning to eligibility-based programs. We investigate student outcomes that were associated with those changes, examining how breakfast and lunch participation, attendance, and standardized reading, math, and science test scores changed across years at affected and unaffected schools. We find that the switch from a universal-free to an eligibility-based SBP reduced breakfast participation substantially, with the largest changes occurring among students who were not eligible for free- or reduced-price meals. The changes in SBPs were associated with changes in lunch participation for paid-eligible students but not for other students. The changes in SBPs did not harm test scores but were associated with improved attendance