The rapid expansion of the public preschool system in Uruguay has led to increased
preschool participation rates throughout the country since 1995. While research in the United
States suggests that there is a significant relationship between public preschool participation and
higher levels of educational attainment, this relationship has not been thoroughly examined in
Uruguay or elsewhere in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. This thesis assesses
whether or not public preschool participation in Uruguay can increase secondary school
completion rates and university enrollment by the ages of 19 and 20 using data from the
Uruguayan Continuous Household Survey from the years 2011 to 2014