Policy Work
Policy-facing publications and resources that translate evidence for policymakers and practitioners. Items are grouped by policy area, with short pullouts for institutions and networks that shaped clusters of work.
Student Aid and College Costs
Hope for Whom?
Race, Income, and the Impact of Merit Aid
High-Income Families Benefit Most from New Education Savings Incentives
Simplify and Focus the Education Tax Incentives
College Grants on a Postcard: A Proposal for Simple and Predictable Federal Student Aid
From research to legislation
In a 2006 paper with Judith Scott-Clayton, Dynarski showed that just four questions could explain 90 percent of the variation in financial aid eligibility, and that the FAFSA contained more questions than the federal tax return. Senator Lamar Alexander, citing this research, made the case in a 2014 New York Times op-ed to reduce the application to a postcard-sized form. The FAFSA Simplification Act was signed into law in December 2020; beginning in 2023, the FAFSA contained 33 questions, down from 108, with direct IRS data transfer.
Selected coverage
- NYT Editorial Board, "Time to fix the FAFSA" (2015)
- New York Times on the College Board Rethinking Student Aid report (2008)
- The 74 (December 2020)
- Marketplace (December 2020)
- US News (April 2016)
- Chronicle of Higher Education (December 2015)
- Los Angeles Times (January 2015)
- Fortune (September 2015)
- Michigan Radio (August 2015)
Revisiting FAFSA Simplification: Expanding Access to the IRS Data Retrieval Tool
The Tax Benefits for Education Don’t Increase Education
Why Financial Aid is Broken and a Simple Solution to Fix It
Student Loans
Restructuring Student Loans Conference, Capitol Hill, June 2016
Loans for Educational Opportunity: Making Borrowing Work for Today’s Students
The Trouble with Student Loans? Low Earnings, Not High Debt
What Does Cutting Rates on Student Loans Do?
How to, and How Not to, Manage Student Debt
The Dividing Line between Haves and Have-Nots in Home Ownership: Education, Not Student Debt
The RNC Wants to Make Student Loans Competitive Again. They Never Were.
College Access and Completion
Fulfilling the Promise of Community College: The ASAP Demonstrations
For Better Learning in College Lectures, Lay Down the Laptop and Pick Up a Pen
ACT/SAT for All: A Cheap, Effective Way to Narrow Income Gaps in College
K-12
Informing the Debate: Comparing Boston's Charter, Pilot and Traditional Schools
Charter Schools: A Report on Rethinking the Federal Role in Education
Charter Schools and the Road to College Readiness: The Effects on College Preparation, Attendance and Choice
When Winners Are Losers: Private School Vouchers in Louisiana
Massachusetts Charter Cap Holds Back Disadvantaged Students
Online Schooling: Who Is Harmed and Who Is Helped?
Evidence on New York City and Boston Exam Schools
Informing education policy in Michigan
With Brian Jacob, Dynarski co-founded two institutions at the University of Michigan. The Education Policy Initiative brings researchers and policymakers together to generate evidence on education policy. The Michigan Education Data Center gives approved researchers access to linked Michigan education data, supporting studies of schools, students, teachers, and postsecondary outcomes. The papers below draw directly on that work. In 2015, Dynarski was honored by the State of Michigan for this work.