Early brain health education boosts higher income: Study

Dallas students from an elementary school where at least 80% of students come from low-income families are projected to earn more than their high-income peers over a lifetime, thanks to education built on brain science, according to a study by the University of Texas at Dallas Center for BrainHealth and the Momentous Institute.

- Wilborn P. Nobles III, Tribune News Servic

A case study tracked the progress of 73 alumni from the Momentous School, a private laboratory school serving students in prekindergarten through fifth grade in Oak Cliff. The 2016-2018 cohorts were compared with national data on outcomes from low-income and high-income students.

Momentous School is operated by the Momentous Institute, a nonprofit that provides mental health services to 5,500 children and their families each year with bilingual licensed therapists. The study found that 97% of the Momentous alumni who were tracked received a high school diploma, and 48% received a college degree. By comparison, 91% of the high-income students tracked by National Student Clearinghouse High School Benchmarks Reports earned a high school diploma, and 31% received a college degree.

Using US Career Institute data on average lifetime earnings by education level, the researchers expect the Momentous students - tracked up to the bachelor's degree level - to earn between $1.3 million and $2.7 million over their lifetimes, totaling $157 million in cohort earnings, according to the report. Those projections are 26% and 9% higher than the school's national low-income and high-income peers, respectively, according to the report.