Susan Dynarski

Dynarski's research focuses on the impact of financial aid on college students and their families, improving the design of such programs to achieve the greatest benefit to students (particularly those from low-income families) at the lowest cost to taxpayers, the effectiveness of charter schools, and the impact of price on private school attendance decisions.

She has held editorial positions at American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, The Journal of Labor Economics and Education Finance and Policy. She has been a board member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, is past president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy, and is president-elect of the Midwest Economics Association.[3]

She has been awarded the "Public Service Matters" award from the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) for her work on college affordability and student debt,[7] the Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators for her research on student aid,[8] and the Spencer Foundation Award for her research on education policy.

In 2013 she and co-authors Joshua Hyman and Diane Schanzenbach were awarded the Raymond Vernon Memorial Award for the best article in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.[9]

• Susan Dynarski, Katherine Michelmore, CJ Libassi, and Stephanie Owen (2018). "Closing the Gap: The Effect of a Targeted, Tuition-Free Promise on College Choices of High-Achieving, Low-Income Students". NBER Working Paper 25349.
• Dynarski, Susan (2003). "Does aid matter? Measuring the effect of student aid on college attendance and completion". American Economic Review. 93 (1): 279–288. doi:10.1257/000282803321455287.
• Dynarski, Susan (2000). "Hope for whom? Financial aid for the middle class and its impact on college attendance". National Tax Journal. 53 (3): 629–661. doi:10.17310/ntj.2000.3S.02. Archived from the original on 2014-09-17.
• Dynarski, Susan; Bailey, Martha (2011). "Inequality in postsecondary education". In Greg Duncan; Richard Murnane (eds.). Whither Opportunity. Russell Sage.
• Atila Abdulkadiroglu; Joshua D. Angrist; Susan M Dynarski; Thomas J Kane; Parag A Pathak (2011). "Accountability and flexibility in public schools: Evidence from Boston's charters and pilots" (PDF). The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 126 (2): 699–748. doi:10.1093/qje/qjr017.
• Dynarski, S. (2004). The New Merit Aid. In: Hoxby, C.M. (ed.). College Choices: The Economics of Where to Go, When to Go, and How to Pay For It. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 63-97.
• Dynarski, S. (2008). Building the stock of college-educated labor. Journal of Human Resources, 43(3), pp. 576-610.
• Deming, D., Dynarski, S. (2010). College Aid. In: Levine, P.B., Zimmerman, D.J. (eds.). Targeting Investments in Children: Fighting Poverty When Resources are Limited. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 283-302.
• Dynarski, S. (2002). The behavioral and distributional implications of aid for college. American Economic Review, 92(2), pp. 279-285.
• Dynarski, S.M., Scott-Clayton, J.E. (2006). The Cost of Complexity in Federal Student Aid: Lessons from Optimal Tax Theory and Behavioral Economics. National Tax Journal, 59(2), pp. 319-356.
• Dynarski, S.M., Scott-Clayton, J.E. (2008). Financial Aid Policy: Lessons from Research. The Future of Children, 23(1), pp. 67-91.
• Dynarski, S. et al. (1997). Can families smooth variable earnings? Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1997(1), pp. 229-303.
• Angrist, J.D. et al. (2012). Who benefits from KIPP? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 31(4), pp. 837-860.
• Deming, D., Dynarski, S. (2008). The lengthening of childhood. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(3), pp. 71-92.
• Abdulkadiroglu, A. et al. (2009). Informing the debate: Comparing Boston's charter, pilot and traditional schools. Boston: Boston Foundation.
• Angrist, J.D. et al. (2016). Inputs and impacts in charter schools: KIPP Lynn. American Economic Review, 100(2), pp. 239-243.
• Angrist, J.D. et al. (2013). Stand and deliver: Effects of Boston's charter high schools on college preparation, entry, and choice. Journal of Labor Economics, 34(2), pp. 275-318.
• Dynarski, S., Hyman, J., Schanzenbach, D.W. (2013). Experimental evidence on the effect of childhood investments on postsecondary attainment and degree completion. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 32(4), pp. 692-717.

Dynarski has testified before the US Senate Finance Committee, the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the House Ways and Means Committee, the United States House Committee on Education and Labor, and the President's Advisory Panel for Federal Tax Reform. She advocates for simplifying the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) to help more low-income students in the United States attend college.[10][11] She has advised the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the White House, the United States Department of the Treasury, the United States Department of Education, and the Council of Economic Advisers on potential student aid reforms.[12] She is a contributing columnist for The New York Times.[13] The Chronicle of Higher Education named her one of the "top ten influencers and agitators of 2015," calling her "The Sensible Explainer."[14]

Dynarski was one of the signees of a 2018 amici curiae brief that expressed support for Harvard University in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard lawsuit. Other signees of the brief include Alan B. Krueger, Robert M. Solow, George A. Akerlof, and Janet Yellen.[15]