Apprenticeships are growing. But experts say that without more funding, updated laws and better data, the U.S. is still far from the system they know is possible.

(Forthcoming Article) - The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and now allows for synthesis of findings from different contexts, time periods, and research designs. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the rigorous evidence measuring Head Start’s effects on children, their families, and society. The focus is on how (1) the contrast between program and counterfactual conditions, (2) takeup of the program among eligible populations, and (3) treatment–effect heterogeneity inform interpretation and applicability of key findings. The paper presents implications of the evidence for the modern-day Head Start program and an adjacent, policy-relevant research agenda.

Explore mail transit times via railway between major U.S. cities, 1882–1908.

The EMRI program seeks to hire interns in economics, accounting and related fields to support the nation’s growing demand for information.

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

U.S. college enrollment reached pre-pandemic levels this fall. But despite overall growth, some populations, such as adult learners and international graduate students, declined.

We examine the impact of local labor market shocks and state unemployment insurance (UI) policies on student discipline in U.S. public schools. Analyz…

The Bureau of Economics seeks candidates for the position of Statistician. Statisticians work directly with BE staff economists to (1) provide economic analysis in support of antitrust and consumer pr...

We study the long-term effect of the Great Recession on federal student loan borrowing and repayment. Using detailed longitudinal data on federal student loan b

A curated collection of Python packages for applied economists, organized by functionality to support econometric analysis, data management, visualization, and specialized tasks. - clibassi/python-...

From Day One of my Administration, I vowed to fix the student loan system and make sure higher education is a pathway to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity. Already, my Administration h...

The U.S. Department of Education recently released data on community college student transfer and outcomes. What do the data reveal about how well colleges and universities are serving community colle...