In Michigan, 18% of all community college students have completed some college but are still enrolled well beyond the expected time to a degree. Despite their substantial progress, about 36% of all “long-term persisting” students do not complete any...
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...
As the U.S. Senate debates the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, University of Michigan experts are available to discuss elements of the proposed spending plan that stand to leave a mark on health, health care and public...
The Youth Policy Lab (YPL) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Institute for Social Research is proud to announce the 2025 Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE) cohort. This summer, Spelman students...
As the federal government appears poised to pull back on collecting and disseminating educational data, it’s increasingly critical that information collected and maintained by states and local districts is available to inform policy, according to a...
As popularity for career and technical education (CTE) programs increases, education economist Brian Jacob and YPL Project Manager Lynn Meissner make a case for robust data collection and research to understand their long-term impact on students....
The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan will establish the Martha Darling and Gilbert Omenn Research Fund for Early Childhood Education with a generous $500,000 commitment from Martha A. Darling and Gilbert S. Omenn....
Dean Watkins-Hayes, at the Congressional Breakfast in DC, with Michigan in Washington undergraduates Ajay Morelli, Malinda Brunk, Rachel Ellisen, and Isaac Davis, and Riecker Fellow Hope Wang (MPP...
Christina Weiland, co-director of the Education Policy Initiative and professor at the Ford School, delivered her inaugural lecture as the Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy. Weiland, who is also a professor at the Marsal Family School...
“The government gets to basically treat a generally decentralized national system of universities as a pay-as-you-go resource to get problems solved,” the Ford School's Jason Owen-Smith told the Associated Press. Owen-Smith discussed ways that the...
Paula Lantz highlights an “overt disconnect” between the creation of President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission and his administration's concurrent actions that reduce federal funding for public health...
A major policy change in early education in the Philippines led to an unexpected drop in test scores and academic achievement—revealing the challenges that even well-intentioned reforms can have and the importance of wisely investing in the first...
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s call for new cell phone restrictions in schools led Michigan legislators to reintroduce House Bill 4141. In a new opinion piece for Bridge Michigan, Ford School Professor Brian Jacob and Justin E Heinze, associate...
Following the recent executive order designed to dismantle the Department of Education, the Ford School's Kevin Stange spoke with Bridge Michigan about what this means for education research. Strange shared that his biggest concern is the fate of...
Research shows that high-quality preschool education has the power to positively impact a child’s growth and development, even far into adulthood. However, as costs increase and high demand creates long wait times, many children across the country...
A new brief from the Ford School's Education Policy Initiative and Youth Policy Lab shows the impact of federally funded education research. The policy-relevant research is developed in partnership with local and state agencies, practitioners, and...
March 11 marked five years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The Ford School's Christina Weiland discusses continued effects in education, business and society. Weiland is co-director of the Education Policy...
Rx Kids, co-directed by the Ford School's Luke Shaefer, celebrated it one-year anniversary at the end of January. The program has given access to $6M in cash support for over 1,300 Flint families with pregnant mothers and babies in their first years...
"I just don’t think we know yet" says Brian Jacob, Ford School professor, on the effectiveness of technology use in classrooms. As screen time has increased in classrooms research still shows mixed results on student...
The Ford School's Brian Jacob recently spoke with The Wall Street Journal regarding his 2023 research survey on the use of technology in classrooms. Jacob's survey was conducted among 1,000 educators and showed technology is used for completing...
Pamela Herd is the Carol Kakalec Kohn professor of social policy at the Ford School of Public Policy and a faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research’s Population Studies Center. Her research focuses on inequality and how it intersects...
Celeste Watkins-Hayes, the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, has been invited to serve on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). This prestigious appointment...
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...
The Ford School is pleased to announce an exciting lineup for our January 2025 Policy Talks @ the Ford School series and other special public events hosted with partners from across campus.Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise...
Education Week has announced the annual 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, which highlights scholars who made significant contributions to educational practice and policy in the past year.Three Ford School faculty members have been...
Sociologist Pamela Herd joined the Ford School faculty in September 2024 as the Carol Kakalec Kohn Professor of Social Policy. Her research focuses on inequality and how it interacts with policy issues including health, aging, and administrative...
To improve early learning programs nationwide, policymakers and funders are investing in curriculum, professional development, and assessments. However, ensuring educational partners are well-prepared to deliver them remains a crucial...
In an article co-authored with Brent Orrell and Suzette Kent, Ford School professor Jason Owen-Smith writes for FedScoop about the possible impacts AI and other technologies will have on US labor markets. Owen-Smith compared new technologies like AI...
