Edunomics Lab Logo

About Us

About Us

Edunomics Lab is a Georgetown University research center dedicated to exploring and modeling complex education finance decisions to inform policy and practice. Established in 2012 at the McCourt School of Public Policy, the center is nationally recognized as a leader in the field of education finance.

The center is always seeking to identify the questions that need asking but are not yet being asked. To connect research to policy and practice, Edunomics Lab works with districts, states, policymakers, and leaders at all levels of the education system (local, state, and federal) to conduct analyses and provide technical assistance. Our research and modeling projects are designed to give policymakers and education leaders evidence-based, practical, actionable resources so they can make thoughtful resource decisions on behalf of students. 

Our Team

Marguerite Roza

Director

Marguerite Roza, Ph.D., is Director of the Edunomics Lab and Research Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, where she leads the Certificate in Education Finance program.

Read More

Aashish (Ash) Dhammani

Research Fellow

Headshot of Deb Britt

Debra Britt

Strategic Communications Manager

headshot of Jordan Tollefson

Jordan Tollefson

Education Director

Headshot of Katie Silberstein

Katie Silberstein

Strategic Projects Lead

Laura Anderson headshot

Laura Anderson

Associate Director

Maggie Cicco

Research Fellow

Megan Brown

Program Specialist

Andrew Lee

MDI Scholar

Isabel Mu

Project Assistant

headshot for Judy Zhou

Judy Zhou

Project Assistant

ADVISORY BOARD

Our advisory board members bring a diverse set of experiences and expertise to inform, improve, and support our work.

CEF Advisory Board

Consultant

Sue Deigaard

Lincoln Prep Schools

Gordan Ford

School Board Partners

Jasmin Ramirez

African American Black Parent Advisory Committee

Thaddeus Smith

Calvert County Public Schools

Andraé Townsel

Oregon Department of Education

Kai Turner

Project Advisory Board

IES Grant R305U230001

School Board Partners

Ethan Charles Ashley

Teachers College, Columbia University

Dr. Jonathan Collins

Council of the Great City Schools

AJ Crabill

McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

Dr. Rebecca Johnson

NALEO Educational Fund

Dr. Rosita Ramirez

Acknowledgement of funding sources

In our 10-year history, Edunomics Lab has received funding from a range of public and private sources for our work toward more equitable distribution of public resources, to enhance financial fluency and transparency, and to equip systems to better leverage public resources to do the most for students. We are grateful that these topics enjoy support at all levels of the education system and across a range of ideological perspectives. Edunomics Lab is a non-partisan research center at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. All views, findings, and conclusions expressed are those of Edunomics Lab only and do not necessarily reflect the views of those listed below.

ABM Industries*
Afton Partners
AASA, The Superintendents Association
Laura and John Arnold Foundation
Barr Foundation
Best NC
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Broad Center
Building State Capacity & Productivity Center
Cambiar Education
CASEL
Center on Reinventing Public Education
Central Regional Education Association (ND)*
City Fund
City of Wilmington, DE
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Charles Koch Foundation
Collaborative for Student Success*
College Board
Council of Chief State School Officers
CT State Board of Education
Ed Solutions
Education Resource Strategies*
Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
Equitable Institute
The Holdsworth Center
Houston Independent School District (TX)
Idaho, State of
Il State Board of Education
Institute of Education Sciences
Kern Family Foundation
Lynch Foundation
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
NALEO
National Center
New America Foundation
New Schools Venture Fund
New Venture Fund
Oak Foundation
Pearson Virtual Schools*
Public Education Foundation
Raikes Foundation
Regional Comprehensive Center 8
Regional Comprehensive Center 14
Regional Opportunties Consortium of Idaho
SC Education Oversight Committee*
School Board Partners
Schoolzilla
School Seed
Smith Richardson Foundation
This Sector Intelligence
TN Department of Education
US Chamber Foundation
Walton Family Foundation
W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Numerous local and state education agencies*

*Denotes >$10,000 in registration fees or tuition paid to Georgetown University for trainings, workshops or certification programs conducted by Edunomics Lab. If you have any questions, please contact us at edunomics@georgetown.edu.

Subscribe

* indicates required

Marguerite Roza

Director

Dr. Roza’s research focuses on quantitative policy analysis, largely in the education finance arena. She has led projects including the Institute for Education Sciences multi-year study of weighted student funding, the Finance and Productivity Initiative at the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) and the Schools in Crisis Rapid Response Paper Series. Her recent research traces the effects of fiscal policies at the federal, state, and district levels for their implications on resources at the school and classroom levels. Her calculations of dollar implications and cost-equivalent trade-offs have prompted changes in education finance policy at all levels in the education system. As part of her groundbreaking work on weighted student funding, Dr. Roza devised a “%SBA metric,” enabling an apples-to-apples comparison of total district funds in a WSF formula. This metric is now commonly recognized as the foundational measurement of WSF formulas nationwide.

Dr. Roza has written extensively on financial transparency and the opportunity toward equity and productivity. Her work has been published by the Brookings Institution, Public Budgeting and Finance, Education Next, Governing, The Hill, and the Peabody Journal of Education. She is author of the highly regarded education finance book, Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go?

Dr. Roza served as a Senior Economic Advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy teaching thermodynamics at the Naval Nuclear Power School. She earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Washington and a B.S. from Duke University, and has studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Amsterdam.