Assistant Professor in Economics at the University of Copenhagen
Franziska Valder is an Assistant Professor in Economics at the University of Copenhagen working on topics in labor, health, and education economics. Her research examines how social policies shape life-cycle outcomes, focusing on labor market outcomes, human capital formation, and fertility choices, with particular attention to the role of mental health, using administrative and survey data. She received her PhD from KU Leuven in 2021.
Franziska has received a grant by the Independent Research Fund Denmark to investigate the role of teachers for students with mental,...
David Gardner Chair of Higher Education, Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education, Professor of Public Policy & Economics, Carmel P. Friesen Chair of Public Policy
Jesse Rothstein is Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds the Carmel P. Friesen Chair in Public Policy and the David Pierpont Gardner Chair in Higher Education and directs the Center for Studies in Higher Education. He previously served as Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor and as Senior Economist with the Council of Economic Advisers, Executive Office of the President. From 2015-2020, he was director of...
Chris Mesfin is a Predoctoral Research Assistant at CSHE where he works with Professor Jesse Rothstein on projects in education, labor and public policy. Prior to joining CSHE Chris completed his B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Harvard University. His research interests include environmental and energy economics and the evaluation of public policy. During his time at Harvard he was engaged in research projects related to measuring the...
Nearly half of California community college students report struggling with food insecurity. SNAP food benefits (known as CalFresh in California) can help reduce student hunger. Alleviating hunger among students should lead to improved educational outcomes, but rigorous research on this topic remains scarce. Our recent study (The Impact of Nutrition Assistance on College Student Success) helps to close that gap, using a compelling matching design with...
Berkeley, May 4, 2026 – Community college students who receive CalFresh during their first year of college are more likely to stay on track academically and return for a second year, according to a new working paper from the California Policy Lab and the Center for Studies in Higher Education.
The research finds that students who maintained CalFresh benefits throughout their first year were more likely to complete a full-time course load (30 or more credits) and more likely to enroll...
Ivy Chen is an undergraduate research assistant for Professor Zachary Bleemer at Princeton University in the Industrial Relations Section. She is pursuing a B.A. in Economics on the mathematics-track with minors in Statistics and Machine Learning as well as English. Her research interests include the economics of higher education and the labor market impacts of reproductive healthcare access.
The Academic Kitchen tells the story of the evolution of an all-women's department, the Department of Home Economics, at the University of California, Berkeley from 1905 to 1954. The book's unique focus on the connection between gender and the status of a particular academic department challenges organizational theorists and higher education specialists to reconsider their traditional analysis of academic departments. By incorporating gender in the analysis, Nerad reveals the process by which departments traditionally dominated by women, including education, library science, nursing...
Jesse Rothstein recently shared critical insights into university financial operations during an interview with Julia Barajas from LAist, Southern California Public Radio's digital news and culture platform.
In this timely discussion, Rothstein clarified how college budgets function, underscored the vital importance of research grants, and addressed the significant financial challenges universities are currently navigating under the present administration.
Politics, economics, and technology have conspired to make this an exceptionally challenging time for American higher education. Some critics claim that costs are out of control in traditional public and private nonprofit higher education. They believe these institutions will soon go the way of the railroads as for-profit institutions displace them and the Internet replaces college campuses and classrooms. Other critics bemoan the privatization of higher education and the increasing role of market forces. Still others think higher education has lost its way and fails to focus on...
