Licensing Student Drivers in Wisconsin: Building Assets in Employment and Adulthood

Abstract

This technical assistance paper for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction analyzes state Department of Transportation driver’s license files in order to assess the numbers of Wisconsin youth reaching adulthood with a driver’s license and to estimate the numbers of unlicensed youth in each of the 72 Wisconsin counties and 12 Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) districts. The data is aiding DPI in considering whether expanded state financial support and programming for driver education and licensing of school-age youth could increase the skills of Wisconsin youth at the critical period of their lives when they are entering the labor force, preparing for postsecondary education, and acquiring assets to build on in their early adult years.