I can give you a little first hand knowledge of myself or some of my very best friends who have guide dogs.
First most are free, I think there are 12 or 14, it is always changing a little every year. All have to have some kinds of things in place, and the four major ones, guide dogs for the blind, guiding eyes for the blind, leader dogs and seeing eyes for the blind, all work together in that they all interbred the dogs to continue to get a great mix, with the right temperament, size, and traits. Although, the do it by trading so many from one to to so many from another.
I believe that all of these four do have an age of 16 to get a dog, but you can apply in your 15th year since it can take 4 to 6 months. Two of these schools have buddy dog programs for younger children, dogs who did not make training because of a problem, say to many ear infections, but other wise has all the right traits, they go to children who are between 8 and 15, to get them use to the idea of having a dog right by there sides, guiding eyes for the blind in NY have more on the web page.
Each school, had a 26 or 28 day training program where you have to go and live there and train there, very highly recommended over any school that brings the dog to you, at list the first dog,, but with economy the way it is, I hear that this may not be the case in every school anymore, some are cutting down to 14 or 21 days, I hear. Again guiding eyes for the blind is 26 days,still.
I said most offer free the dogs, I know seeing eye makes you pay a small fee. $200 and I know a few smaller school make you pay also. I hear it is to give you the sense of owner ship. Not 100% positive, but I think most of the school mentioned do not let you outright on the dog, for a year or two. All those mentioned have some kind of free vet program for there dogs, guiding eyes will give my vet $200 a year for regular check ups, and if I keep my dog within 10 pounds of goal weight, I get $300 a year, which will cover the heart worm medication on top of the vet bill. I know leader dogs and guide dogs do the same.
So is one school better than another, no, but they are different and the best way to find out is to start asking questions, from those that go and listen to the answers as to your daughters sight at the time. One school has better meals, another better rooms, to me and most of my friends that was not a deal breaker. But the schools do have differences in training techniques and some are better than others with different eye sight issues.
One or two examples, I have had a friend go to guide dogs and end up not getting a dog, she had some sight but was still legally blind, they did not work well at all with her, she later went to guiding eyes and got a dog and did just fine. I had the opposite with another friend, she went to guiding eyes and was sent home saying they could not help, first day there they took her cane away and she could never seem to get use to that, she later went to guide dogs and got a dog, they babied her (her words) and let her have her cane and dog, she did great. Neither school is better, just a difference in how they treat differences, which is good as long as you know what you want or need, and this is just two examples, am sure others had the opposite results.
The next difference is the dogs, guide dogs for the blind turn out very young dogs, many only 18 months old. Some people love that, usually get another year out of service. Others really hate it and would rather a dog 24 to 28 months old. Again, neither school is better for it, I prefer my dog trained aa little older.
One other factor is if you want a specific dog type. All have mostly labs, they usually are the over all best bred for guide work. That does not mean others will not work, or there are not an occasional dog in every bred that will work. These school do so much bredding between themselves they have actually bred out some traits in labs, like ear infections, which are common in labs, the dogs from these school as a bred, have less than a 3% problem. But I know guide dogs have labs, golden and cross lab golden, but something like 90 labs. Guiding eyes have the same but they also have just a few shepards. Leader dogs have the same but will do a few other breeds, I know they do poodles for people allergic to dogs, and I heard of them doing a great Dane for a man whoo was 7 ft tall, but I'm not sure that is true. I do not know what breeds seeing eye do.
I hope this was not to much, hope your DD finds many years of sight before she needs a dog. Oh one rule for all the schools is independent travel, so no matter how young she is, make her do the work, but be her eyes for her, she must be able to safely cross streets, busy ones independently, and she must have some sence of what direction she has to go when she gets to the ends of sidewalks or streets. I believe all the schools mention will take her out privately and she will have to show before they except her that she can do this. I just say, because I lost my sight at age 4 and my parents where great, I was mainstreamed into a private school, was allowed to do everything and anything my brothers where, and never felt different, but it was a very long time, before they ever let me cross a street along, even all my friends would tell me when and how. But it is very important to let DD at least try on her own each time, it is always better for her to say mom I'm going now and have you behind her saying okay, than to same day have to do it alone and not know she is safe, that is how I felt when I was about 17 and all of a sudden my friends all were driving and I was still walking, and I did not know really how to cross safely.
