The longest-running research on students who lived through a school shooting found effects that last into adulthood: more missed school, fewer college degrees and lower earnings in their mid-20s, across every group of students studied.1 The researchers estimate a lifetime earnings loss of about $115,550 per student.2
A scholarship can't undo October 15. It can remove one barrier that the research says grows over time: the cost of what comes after high school.
What a Silver Rail Promise should cover
- Every path. College, community college, trade school, apprenticeships and credential programs.
- The real costs. Tuition, books, fees and living expenses, not tuition alone.
- Time. Our oldest kids are in fifth grade. The promise has to still be there a decade from now, with room for a late start, part-time study or a break.
How it should treat our kids
- Never make a child retell it. Being enrolled at Silver Rail on October 15 is enough to qualify.
- No rigid GPA cutoffs. The research shows trauma itself can pull grades and attendance down.2 A scholarship shouldn't punish kids for that.
- Measure it. No study has yet tested whether scholarships prevent these harms.2 A Silver Rail Promise should track how our kids do, so it helps them and the next community too.
The Stanford research summary points to Norway, which gave survivors of the Utøya attack substantial long-term support, as an example of what a fuller response can look like.2