Departments and Research Centers

Education Policy Initiative

The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) is a program within the Ford School that brings together nationally-recognized education policy scholars focused on the generation and dissemination of policy-relevant education research.

Showing 151 - 180 of 675 results

News

Michigan Minds podcast: Weiland on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted young students' learning

Aug 11, 2021

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted younger students’ learning experiences? In this episode of Michigan Minds, Christina Weiland, Ed.D., associate professor at the School of Education and by courtesy at the Ford School of Public Policy, dives...

Publication

Weiland calls for investment in early childhood programs following pandemic

Jul 21, 2021

As the pandemic continues to drag on, those most affected continue to face adversity — including young children. According to a recent opinion piece authored by Christina Weiland, associate professor of education and faculty co-director of the...

News

Education Policy Initiative's report gains more traction

Jul 6, 2021

The Education Policy Initiative's recent report, "Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity: Using Evidence to Mitigate the Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on Young Children and Early care and Education Programs," has gained more traction in the media,...

In the Media

Dynarski testifies on tax reform

Jun 30, 2021 Inside Higher Ed

On Tuesday, Susan Dynarski, professor of public policy, education and economics, testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on how current tax benefits aren't reaching the students they are meant to help. “The education tax benefits...

News

Tribute to Susan Dynarski as she departs the Ford School

Jun 23, 2021

Since 2008, Sue Dynarski has been one of the Ford School's most active faculty working to reform public education, fighting for educational equity and inclusiveness, and training the next generation of education policy experts. She has taught...

News

Weiland and colleagues discuss findings of pre-existing inequalities, increased stress within early childhood education

Jun 22, 2021

The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) along with the Urban Institute and other early childhood experts, recently dug into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on early childhood development. Their report, "Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity:...

Photo of young children and their teachers in a classroom. By Yan Krukov

News

New policy brief reviews evidence of the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on young children's learning and ECE programs, highlighting inequities, and points to solutions

Jun 18, 2021

How has COVID-19 impacted young children's educational experiences and learning outcomes? How has the pandemic impacted early childhood education (ECE) programs and the ECE workforce? A new report from the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the...

News

Ford School team examines liberal arts impact on students’ lives a decade after graduation

Jun 11, 2021

What is the impact of a liberal arts education on students’ lives? University of Michigan researchers, including Ford School faculty members Paul Courant and Kevin Stange, were recently awarded a $1.1 million grant extension to answer this...

Headshots of Kevin Stange and Paul Courant

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...

News

MIDAS grant to assist Stange research on liberal arts education

Jun 4, 2021

A challenge in any analysis looking at multiple higher education institutions is that each institution may have different labels for the same course - ENG101 may be "Composition I" at one institution but "Thinking Like an Engineer" at another. Ford...

News

Examining Detroit students' college pathways

May 26, 2021

Academic and non-academic barriers are preventing Detroit high school students from enrolling and succeeding in college. Detroit Students’ College Pathways and Outcomes, a policy brief released by the Youth Policy Lab (YPL) at the University of...

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...

Publication

Career and technical education offers pathways for students with disabilities in Michigan

May 13, 2021

Career and Technical Education (CTE) could offer one way of bolstering educational attainment among and providing valuable job skills to students with disabilities (SWD). A new release by the Youth Policy Lab at the Ford School looks at CTE...

News

Biden's plan for universal preschool, explained - Weiland

May 12, 2021

On April 28, the Biden Administration announced the American Families Plan, which includes universal preschool for all three- and four-year-olds. Christina Weiland, associate professor of education at the Ford School, weighed in on the plan and...

News

Dynarski’s research and advocacy for a simplified FAFSA becomes reality

Apr 23, 2021

Professor Sue Dynarski laid out the reality of pursuing higher education for many students in a 2015 NYT op-ed. “Many smart students forgo college in the mistaken belief that they cannot afford it,” she wrote. “The financial aid system, which is...

Publication

New EPI report provides snapshot of pandemic challenges for early childhood education providers

Mar 29, 2021

Even in a steady-funded “best case” scenario, teacher turnover, decreases in enrollment, and new safety protocols strain resources and stall quality improvements. Early childhood education (ECE) centers across the country are facing unprecedented...

A parent/guardian and two young children in masks walking outdoors (Credit: Shutterstock)

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...

News

Addressing structural inequity during Black History Month at the Ford School

Mar 1, 2021

The Ford School marked Black History Month by lifting up Black voices with a series of discussions about identifying inequities in society and seeking policy solutions to address them. Research centers, student groups, faculty, staff, and alumni all...

In the Media

Lewis: shrinking graduate pipelines, publication bottlenecks, and hope for reimagining graduate education

Feb 15, 2021 The Chronicle of Higher Education

“By the time we get to ’25 or ’26, we may look back and realize that we’ve reached a new plateau, that it [graduate student populaiton] was not as high as it was in 2010, let alone 2015,” said Earl Lewis, commenting on of the effects of the pandemic...

Publication

Dynarski’s research shows default options key to student loan repayment

Feb 13, 2021

Susan Dynarski’s recent research, “Designed to fail: Effects of the default option and information complexity on student loan repayment,” shows the powerful effects of default options and how making an income driven repayment (IDR) plan the default...

In the Media

Little promotes greater international collaboration between universities

Feb 4, 2021 News Xperts (India)

In a session on partnership in higher education at the Kerala Looks Ahead Conference (KLA), Professor Daniel Little discussed U.S. universities' interest in greater collaboration with foreign universities, noting that the U.S. "is interested to...

News

Parthasarathy on the dangers of facial recognition technology in schools

Jan 29, 2021 Los Angeles Times

As facial recognition technology has become more commonplace in law enforcement, some schools have considered implementing facial recognition technology on their respective campuses. However, after public backlash over privacy concerns, many...

News

Jacob and Dynarski ranked among top U.S. education policy influencers

Jan 11, 2021

Education Week released their 11th annual RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings—the top 200 university-based scholars who shape education practice and policy. Ford School professors Brian Jacob and Susan M. Dynarski were two of the four...

Brian Jacob, Sue Dynarski, and members of the Education Policy Initiative stand along the winding main staircase of the Ford School's home, Weill Hall

In the Media

Ending student loan relief poses a threat to new workers - Dynarski

Dec 7, 2020 NPR Studio 1A

Dynarski says on the NPR Studio 1A segment, Dollars And Sense: Unpausing Student Loan Payment, "We have a lot of people in debt and some people with a problem with that debt, so a small proportion means a lot of people in trouble. We are in the...

News

Michigan Education Data Center an invaluable tool for research

Dec 1, 2020

Does waiting a year to start kindergarten lead to better academic outcomes? How does participation in summer youth employment impact high school graduation and college enrollment? What career pathways are students pursuing? Researchers from...

Yellow and blue pencils diagonally bisect a colored background

In the Media

Online instruction not less expensive for colleges, says Stange

Oct 19, 2020 CNBC

"It turns out it doesn't save [colleges] that much money, if any money, to shift online, holding constant the quality of what you are doing," said Stange. Watch Stange on CNBC consider "Is an online master's degree worth the...

In the Media

Dynarski argues "Colleges are fueling the pandemic in a classic market failure"

Oct 8, 2020 Colleges Are Fueling the Pandemic in a Classic Market Failure

Financial pressures explain why many campuses have brought students back. But Ford School economist Susan Dynarski and Sarah Cohodes of Columbia University Teachers College say that there is a textbook solution: government...

News

Applications for financial aid lagging among Michigan low-income students

Aug 9, 2020

The economic hardship for low-income families caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may have another casualty: high school seniors accessing financial aid to attend college. Applications for federal and state financial aid for college are a leading...

News

Why the move to online instruction won’t reduce college costs

Aug 7, 2020

In an essay for the Chalkboard blog at the Brookings Institution, Kevin Stange, associate professor of public policy at the Ford School, reports on analysis of the move to online teaching at colleges and universities across the U.S. He and his...

News

Dynarski: “The U.S. is reopening many of the wrong schools”

Aug 4, 2020

Ford School professor Sue Dynarski writes in a column for The New York Times that with coronavirus cases spiking in dozens of states, the prospect of anything resembling a normal school year is fading fast. Schools can’t safely reopen if infections...