Recent economic and social changes have accentuated the role of education in determining earnings, family structure, health status and other outcomes. There is also growing concern that the US workforce is lagging behind other countries in both the quantity and quality of education. In response to these challenges, state, local, and Federal authorities have implemented a variety of education reforms, including school choice programs, magnet schools, bilingual education, and teacher certification. This proliferation of programs offers a unique opportunity to study what works and to influence the course of education policy. To exploit this opportunity and guide policy-makers in the design of future reforms, the nation requires a highly-trained force of Ph.D. professionals with knowledge of education-related issues and expertise in program evaluation. This grant adds a total of 5 Graduate Traineeships to the Princeton graduate economics program, concentrating in the economics of education, training, and human resource development. The trainees will enter the existing Ph.D. program and receive rigorous training in microeconomic theory, econometrics, and labor economics. In addition, through a series of new and existing programs, the trainees will receive intensive training and hands-on experience in primary data collection, econometric modelling, and program evaluation. The trainees will be uniquely qualified to evaluate the education programs of the past decade and address the education issues of the next century.
