Cost of Preschool Quality & Revenue

Trying to figure out how much it would cost to increase access or improve the quality of a state-funded early education program? 

This tip sheet provides pointers informed by state experience that can make your cost study easier to complete–so you get the information you need as quickly as possible. 

Download Tip Sheet

Description of the CPQ&R describes what the calculator does and how it can be used.

Design Considerations of the CPQ&R describes why it was created.

Orienting Yourself to the CPQ&R describes the seven excel worksheets that make up the calculator.

Determining the Quality Standards that Drive Cost Projections describes the 10 NIEER Preschool Quality Standards (2016) and how they can be customized.

Using the CPQ&R to Estimate Available Funding describes how to enter revenue, by funding source, including restrictions of certain funding sources.

Changes Made to the CPQ&R describes updates made from previously released CPQ 2.0 version.

The Financing Quality Preschool Webinar makes the case for quality programs and provides an overview of the new CPQ&R. Webinar recording  | Slides

This is the “how to section” for learning more about entering data and producing cost estimates that are customized to your specific goals. We recommend printing the CPQ&R User Guide and keeping it “by your side” as you manipulate and enter data in the CPQ&R. The Before You Start document and the Data Checklist are also helpful to review before you start entering data.

• Annual Slots
• Funding Streams
• Quality Standards
• State-Level Infrastructure and Costs
• Provider-Level Infrastructure and Costs
• Adding Scenarios

Two Sides of the Coin: Costs and Financing High Quality Early Learning, shares what we are learning about using cost data to inform and drive policy decisions on financing high-quality early learning programs. CEELO’s Lori Connors-Tadros ,GG Weisenfeld, Theresa Hawley, Illinois Action for Children, and Nasha Patel, LA Department of Education. (July 2018, Presentation QRIS National Meeting)

Determining Costs of Preschool Quality in Kentucky, describes how Kentucky and the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence validated estimates that reflect the cost of providing preschool and child care across Kentucky at various levels of quality. The data collection methods, including use of the CPQ&R, and the cost findings are summarized.  (May 2018, CPQ&R Spotlight)

This CPQ&R FAQ addresses common concerns to help you get going sooner rather than later.

Modifying the CPQ&R for your specific goals.

Creating Graphics with the data produced by the cost projections of the CPQ&R, and as illustrated in the Communications Toolkit.

Checking Assumptions and Cost Projections for Reasonableness.

Additional Training and Technical Assistance Opportunities for using the CPQ&R are available.

Webinar: Why Understanding the Costs of Preschool Quality is Important. This webinar demonstrates the use of the Cost of Preschool Quality Tool (CPQ). (July 2016, Webinar)

Data is Our Friend: Understanding the Costs of Quality – presentation on using the Cost of Preschool Quality and Revenue tool to get good data on costs of high quality early learning programs to drive policy decisions. (CCSSO-SCASS, February 2018)

This Toolkit provides the ingredients and strategies you need to craft an effective response to why policymakers and funders should invest in high-quality preschool programs.

Outreach Materials

These include sample social media posts, a press release template, printable handouts, quotes and graphics for presentations.

• How to Talk about Costs
• Sample Social Media
• Press Release Template | Word 
• Quality Matters Quotes from Early Education Experts
• Printable Handouts on Quality Early Education Topics 
• CPQ&R Graphics
• CPQ&R Communications FAQ
• Tips to guide framing, pivoting and storytelling (Advocacy and Communication Solutions, 2017)

Briefs explaining research methodology used to generate assumptions and defaults for CPQ&R calculations

• Estimating Real Estate Rents for Preschool Facilities (February 2019)
• Estimating Teacher Tuition Costs for Scholarship Funding (February 2019)