Katherine Michelmore

Core faculty

Katherine Michelmore

Associate Professor of Public Policy

Katherine Michelmore is an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Michelmore is a leading scholar and educator on the social safety net, education policy, labor economics, and…

News

Ford School’s Katherine Michelmore Senate testimony - “Assessing 25 years of the Child Tax Credit”

Jul 13, 2023

Ford School Associate Professor Katherine Michelmore testified before the United States Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, sharing her insights into the effectiveness, and drawbacks, of the first 25 years of the Child Tax...

Ford School’s Katherine Michelmore Senate testimony - “Assessing 25 years of the Child Tax Credit”

News

U.S. Supreme Court overturns affirmative action: Ford School experts available

Jun 29, 2023

Ford School experts can discuss the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action Thursday, in which the justices ruled that race cannot be a factor in college and university admissions decisions: Katherine Michelmore, associate...

U.S. Supreme Court overturns affirmative action: Ford School experts available

News

Ford School expert shares thoughts on next steps after US report on social media's effects on youth

Jun 5, 2023

A Ford School public policy expert who has reviewed the U.S. surgeon general's advisory outlining social media's profound risks to children's mental health says policymakers will need a great deal more data before making any formal...

State & Hill

Dot to dot

Dec 19, 2022

The Education Policy Initiative connects researchers and policymakers—helping make good use of their one-of-a-kind secure data clearinghouse By Daniel Rivkin A recent research project examined the ties between school funding and crime in Michigan....

In the Media

Michelmore breaks down Child Tax Credit study

Oct 20, 2022 Michigan Radio

Katherine Michelmore, Michigan Radio: “It takes a long time to determine whether a policy did something good. I think we’re showing in the short term it certainly is improving the material well-being of very low-income families in the U.S. So that’s...

Michelmore breaks down Child Tax Credit study

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...

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

News

2021 Child Tax Credit reduced hardship for families in poverty, had no significant impact on employment

Oct 5, 2022

New research from the University of Michigan focuses on the effect of the 2021 Child Tax Credit on families living in poverty, noting that the monthly payments reduced certain types of hardship and had little to no impact on parents’ employment...

2021 Child Tax Credit reduced hardship for families in poverty, had no significant impact on employment

In the Media

Reducing student loan debt is a significant step - Michelmore

Sep 12, 2022 Oakland Press

Over 1.3 million Michiganders hold around $50 billion in student loan debt, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education. The Biden administration's plan to forgive $10,000 of loan debt, and up to $20,000 for those students who...

News

IES grant supports EPI in evaluation of Michigan’s Tuition Incentive Program impacts

Jul 13, 2022

The state of Michigan’s Tuition Incentive Program (TIP) has a unique structure that distinguishes it from other state need-based financial aid programs. Currently funding some 25,000 students annually, the program is a “first-dollar" scholarship...

IES grant supports EPI in evaluation of Michigan’s Tuition Incentive Program impacts

In the Media

Michelmore on Roe v. Wade fallout

Jul 1, 2022 University Business

Last week's reversal of Roe v. Wade will have pervasive effects on U-M's campus, said Associate Professor Katherine Michelmore to University Business. “There are going to be fewer women that are going to end up getting college degrees,” said...

State & Hill

Discourse: Ford School faculty in the news, spring 2022

May 31, 2022

“(Putin) has already violated every international treaty, including the U.N. charter, by invading. This has international implications, not just European implications. Now, the question of what we do and how we do it, with regards to sanctions or...

News

Michelmore appointed as NBER research associate

Apr 25, 2022

Ford School professor Katherine Michelmore has been named as one of 23 new research associates by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). NBER is is a private, nonpartisan organization that facilitates cutting-edge investigation and...

In the Media

HAIL program research discussed in Forbes

Apr 6, 2022 Forbes

Forbes magazine notes, "Simplicity Matters For Free College," citing a recent U-M Education Policy Initiative study, The Power of Certainty: Experimental Evidence on the Effective Design of Free Tuition Programs. "The simplicity of the message from...

HAIL program research discussed in Forbes

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...

State & Hill

Faculty findings, fall 2021

Dec 13, 2021

Who would pay if we stop using natural gas? New research co-authored by economist Catherine Hausman considers the equity impacts of transitioning from natural gas to other energy sources. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration,...

Publication

Earned Income Tax Credit affects intergenerational marriage and childbirth decisions, says U-M study

Dec 3, 2021

Children of Earned Income Tax Credit beneficiaries delayed marriage and first births, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Michigan professor, suggesting the cost-effectiveness of the federal program. Little has been known about...

Publication

Michelmore and Pilkauskas find EITC boosts employment, with decreasing impact as children age

Oct 4, 2021

Existing research has largely overlooked the variation in maternal employment effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) depending on the age of their children. In a new study, Katherine Michelmore and Natasha Pilkauskas, both associate...

Who’s caring for the kids? The Earned Income Tax Credit and child care arrangements

News

Q&A with new faculty: Kathy Michelmore

Sep 1, 2021

Kathy Michelmore, who was a IES postdoctoral fellow at the Education Policy Initiative (2014-2016), returns to the Ford School and adds social and education policy expertise. She is a leading scholar and educator on the social safety net, education...

State & Hill

Building strength

Jun 10, 2021

With new leading-edge research and faces at the school, the Ford School builds depth in two key policy areas. Energy and the environment Economics, political science, psychology, and community engagement are at the roots of the Ford School’s...

Publication

Michigan’s HAIL scholarship program meaningfully changes students’ college trajectory, report shows

May 19, 2021

Research for years has shown that low-income students face unique barriers to applying to colleges, let alone being able to afford tuition and living costs. To address the concern that not enough high-achieving, low-income students were applying to...

Michigan’s HAIL scholarship program meaningfully changes students’ college trajectory, report shows

News

Katherine Michelmore joins Ford School faculty, adding social and education policy expertise

Mar 25, 2021

On March 25, the University of Michigan Regents approved the appointment of Katherine Michelmore as associate professor of public policy, with tenure, effective August 30, 2021. Michelmore is a leading scholar and educator on the social safety net,...

State & Hill

HAILed it - Tuition-free promise attracts low-income students to U-M

Apr 5, 2019

A research study that centered around a large maize-and-blue-striped envelope caught the attention of more than just the students it sought to target. The work launched a larger initiative at the University of Michigan and is being lauded as...

HAILed it - Tuition-free promise attracts low-income students to U-M

State & Hill

Complex and fragile: The university's dual role as society's servant and society's critic

Dec 14, 2017

It's been 200 years since the founding of Michigan's first and flagship university: ours. Every moment is a turning point. But this moment—our bicentennial—is particularly poignant. As schools and stakeholders across the University of Michigan look...

Complex and fragile: The university's dual role as society's servant and society's critic

News

Susan Dynarski in NYT, “Why American schools are even more unequal than we thought”

Aug 16, 2016

Susan Dynarski, writing for The New York Times, explains “Why American schools are even more unequal than we thought.” In the piece, Dynarski describes a new measure of economic hardship—one that reveals an even more troubling picture of the...

Susan Dynarski on Michigan Radio's "Stateside": Ways to fix America’s student loan mess

News

Marriage is not a silver bullet says Michelmore of her recent research on family stability

Oct 13, 2015

A new study published in Demography, co-authored by the Ford School's Katherine Michelmore, examines the change over time in the stability of married and unmarried American couples with children. The number of children born to unmarried women in...

Marriage is not a silver bullet says Michelmore of her recent research on family stability

EPI Speaker Series

Who’s caring for the kids? The Earned Income Tax Credit and child care arrangements

Oct 26, 2022, 12:00-12:50 pm EDT

Room 1210 Weill Hall

In this talk, Professors Michelmore and Pilkauskas will discuss their study the effect of one of the largest work-contingent cash transfer programs in the United States – the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – on the child care arrangements of children.

Using refundable tax credits to reduce child poverty: Differences by credit type and by child's age

Jun 26, 2018, 8:30-10:00 am EDT

Weill Hall, Room 3240

About CIERS: The objective of the Causal Inference in Education Research Seminar (CIERS) is to engage students and faculty from across the university in conversations around education research using various research methodologies. T

Causal Inference in Education Research Seminar (CIERS)

Katherine Michelmore, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Oct 29, 2014, 8:30-10:00 am EDT

Weill Hall, 3rd Floor Seminar Room

A presentation by Katherine Michelmore, postdoctoral fellow at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

EPI Policy briefs

Increasing Economic Diversity at a Flagship University

April 1, 2021

Jasmina Camo-Biogradlija, Susan Dynarski, Katherine Michelmore, Nicole Wagner Lam, Stephanie Owen

Research shows that low-income students face unique barriers to applying to colleges. The HAIL (High Achieving Involved Leader) study at the University of Michigan (U-M) explored whether providing an early, four-year guarantee of free tuition and...