Publication

'From STEM to earn': High school programs aimed at diversifying the field drive gains in college, salaries

Jun 4, 2026

High school students participating in pipeline programs aimed at increasing diversity in STEM fields are more likely to enroll in—and graduate from—elite colleges with a related degree. Further, such improvements raised their predicted earnings by an...

'From STEM to earn': High school programs aimed at diversifying the field drive gains in college, salaries

Publication

Should schools lower the chronic absenteeism threshold? New EPI research suggests they should

Feb 6, 2026

New evidence from the Ford School's Education Policy Initiative (EPI) shows absenteeism may hurt student's academics long before it is considered a chronic pattern. These findings, published in a January working paper, were recently featured in Educa...

Should schools lower the chronic absenteeism threshold? New EPI research suggests they should

Publication

Jacob and Weiland raise concerns about potential bias in traditional retention studies

Jan 30, 2026

Across the U.S., policies that require children to repeat a grade in elementary school—known as retention policies—have become a popular approach to improve reading proficiency. As of 2025, 18 states have enacted or are set to implement third-grade r...

Jacob and Weiland raise concerns about potential bias in traditional retention studies

Publication

How mobility of graduates complicates efforts to measure college value

Sep 26, 2025

As policymakers ramp up efforts to hold higher education accountable for the financial outcomes of their graduates, new research from Ford School professor Kevin Stange and colleagues reveals a major complicating factor: college graduates don’t alway...

How mobility of graduates complicates efforts to measure college value

Publication

Making the grade: Targeted help, not being held back, offers leg up to students struggling with reading

Jun 26, 2025

Policies calling for holding children back a grade in elementary school to improve their reading skills are widespread—if unpopular—across the United States. However, the benefits to students appear to come from the support services put in place once...

Making the grade: Targeted help, not being held back, offers leg up to students struggling with reading

Publication

College tuition aid program delivers high marks for value but strives to reach more who qualify

Jan 15, 2025

One of Michigan's largest financial aid programs offers great promise in boosting college affordability as well as the number of college graduates—with room to reach many more who qualify for it. The Tuition Incentive Program provided roughly $94 mil...

College tuition aid program delivers high marks for value but strives to reach more who qualify

Publication

Transitional kindergarten programs expand early education access, boost academic gain

Aug 16, 2024

Children enrolled in transitional kindergarten programs in Michigan did better in math and English by the time they reached 3rd grade, with higher test scores than other kids who didn't go through the program, according to a new policy brief from the...

Transitional kindergarten programs expand early education access, boost academic gain

Publication

One size doesn't fit all: U-M study reveals different educational models can lead to college success

Aug 9, 2024

Student test scores are not the only indicator of future college success. New research led by University of Michigan education economist Sarah Cohodes provides insights into how different K-12 educational environments shape college preparation, enrol...

Publication

Higher education responds to changing labor markets

Jul 8, 2024

Do universities respond to the changing needs of industry by offering curriculums that provide students skills they need on the job? That’s the central question of a multi-year research project headed up by Kevin Stange, co-director of the University...

Higher education responds to changing labor markets

Publication

U-M researchers partner with District of Columbia Public Schools for Pre-K curriculum implementation study

Apr 24, 2024

University of Michigan researchers from the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Marsal Family School of Education have partnered with MDRC, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), and the Urban ...

U-M’s Education Policy Initiative launches project to boost early learning success with new curriculum readiness measure

Publication

NASEM committee including EPI’s Christina Weiland urges changes to preschool curricula to improve equity and support high-quality early education in the U.S.

Apr 18, 2024

A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) lays out a new vision for high-quality preschool curricula that support equitable early education for all children. The report recommends that in the next five year...

Weiland named inaugural Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy

Publication

Lessons learned: Urban charter schools demonstrate potential to improve student performance

Feb 22, 2024

While the merits of charter schools vs. traditional public schools are well-documented, some charter schools in urban areas can dramatically improve student achievement, especially among disadvantaged students, says a University of Michigan researche...

Publication

Weiland addresses Michigan's $107M preschool education investment

Dec 11, 2023

Christina Weiland, faculty co-director of the Education Policy Initiative, has studied pre-K programs around the country. The state of Michigan will spend an additional $107M in its 2023-2024 budget on pre-K, hoping to increase the number of children...

Publication

U-M education researchers present evidence-based findings and analysis to inform Michigan’s Pre-K-for-All goals

Dec 6, 2023

Achieving Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s aim of universal Pre-K, made in her State of the State address in January 2023, will require building upon its established programs and making some adjustments to the state’s education system. A ...

Publication

Jacob explores barriers to Teacher Loan Forgiveness program

Jul 10, 2023

The Biden Administration is preparing a new set of student loan debt-relief measures in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of its previous, ambitious plan, which would have eliminated between $10,000 and $20,000 per student. A number of s...

Jacob's study on teacher loan forgiveness cited in Chalkbeat

Publication

Learning from lottery-based evaluations of early education programs

Apr 19, 2023

The value of Pre-K education has been widely acknowledged through decades of research. However, much of that research has come from studying older and often smaller programs than those currently being implemented across the country. To determine how ...

Publication

EPI brief looks at "Pre-k boost"

Jan 31, 2023

Children who attend a prekindergarten (Pre-K) program generally score higher on academic, social-emotional, and cognitive assessments at the start of kindergarten than children who do not. However, Pre-K nonattenders typically catch up to Pre-K atten...

Publication

Michigan transitional kindergarten widely available, supported by administrators and parents

Jan 26, 2023

Expanding access to high-quality early education has been a bipartisan goal of Michigan policymakers for at least a decade. New findings by the University of Michigan Education Policy Initiative provide the first systematic description of transiti...

Publication

Overcoming data collection challenges in ECE research

Jan 24, 2023

Rigorous research in early care and education requires high-quality data, often gathered through intensive in-person fieldwork. The COVID-19 pandemic upended the ECE sector, making it much more challenging to safely and successfully collect data in E...

Overcoming data collection challenges in ECE research

Publication

Groundbreaking data from College and Beyond II help researchers examine diverse college experiences

Jan 10, 2023

Researchers have known for decades that attending college is associated with wide-ranging benefits to individuals and society. What is not entirely clear are the mechanisms that connect these beneficial outcomes with the undergraduate experience. For...

Groundbreaking data from College and Beyond II help researchers examine diverse college experiences

Publication

Christina Weiland on identifying inequities and directions forward in mixed-delivery Pre-K systems

Dec 8, 2022

“Almost every state with a public pre-K program uses a mixed-delivery approach, with some classrooms in public schools and others in community-based organizations (CBOs),” write Education Policy Initiative faculty co-director Christina Weiland, and h...

Smart from the Start: Closing Early Opportunity Gaps with Strategic Early Learning Investments

Publication

Income, segregated schools drive Black-white education gaps, study finds

Oct 19, 2022

Given the same levels of family, school, and neighborhood hardship, Black students would be more likely than their white classmates to complete high school and attend college—reversing current disparities, according to new research from the Universit...

Income, segregated schools drive Black-white education gaps, study finds

Publication

COVID-19 remote learning policy: public health or political preference?

Oct 16, 2022

A new study by Ford School professor Brian Jacob looks into whether decisions about extending virtual learning were led more by political preference or public health guidance. The working paper, Assessing School District Decision-Making: Evidence fro...

Publication

Stange research quantifies “brain drain”

Sep 23, 2022

Many states invest heavily in their institutions of higher education only to see graduates leave for employment opportunities. To better understand that dynamic, Ford School Professor Kevin Stange and his colleagues developed a new measure of labor m...

Stange research quantifies “brain drain”

Publication

Stange examines data bias caused by college graduates' out-of-state migration

Sep 7, 2022

When examining the effect on the labor market of post-secondary education in a particular state, researchers often use administrative outcome data – statewide statistics that look at university graduates and the effect on their employment. Yet when t...

Publication

EPI studies Flint water crisis effects on academic outcomes

May 19, 2022

Math achievement for school-age children in Flint decreased and the proportion of children with special needs increased as a result of the Michigan city's water crisis during 2014-16, according to a new University of Michigan study. Those are the m...

EPI examines education impacts of the Flint Water Crisis

Publication

Investment in public schools reduces contact with criminal justice system - EPI working paper

May 10, 2022

Increased investment in public schools pays off through reductions in adult crime, a new Education Policy Initiative brief shows. The working paper, “Public School Funding, School Quality, and Adult Crime,” authored by E. Jason Baron, Joshua Hyman, a...

School funding and crime report highlighted

Publication

Stange and co-authors study cost differences across fields of study at colleges and universities

Apr 29, 2022

Determining the monetary value of an education often is calculated based on what students pay in tuition and fees compared to what they earn after graduation. But, Kevin Stange, Ford School associate professor of public policy, and four other scholar...

Stange and co-authors study cost differences across fields of study at colleges and universities

Publication

Michelmore and research team find unconditional, pre-admission free tuition policies are most effective

Apr 1, 2022

The HAIL Scholarship program was launched in 2016, with considerable input from Ford School professors Katherine Michelmore, Susan Dynarski, and Stephanie Owen about how to reach high achieving, low-income students in Michigan. A follow-up study look...

Katherine Michelmore wins the 24th David N. Kershaw Award and Prize

Publication

Working paper assesses employer perception of college majors and skills

Feb 1, 2022

What are the skills that employers expect college graduates to bring to the job? A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper from Ford School professor Kevin Stange and doctoral candidate Shawn Martin, along with two other colleagues, pr...

Working paper assesses employer perception of college majors and skills