States have traditionally limited public expenditures for preschool programs to children from low-income families or those with disabilities. However, there is growing interest in California and other states in providing universal access to preschool services for one or two years prior to kindergarten entry for all children, regardless of family income.

In 2003, the Packard Foundation awarded collaborative grants to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and AIR to estimate the cost of a preschool program that would be accessible to all four-year-olds in California. This policy brief summarizes the findings from that project.