Lesley Turner
Associate Professor, Harris School of Public Policy
Bio
Lesley J. Turner is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and CESifo research affiliate. Her research broadly considers the roles that government should play in providing, financing, and regulating education. Recent work examines how the incentives built into the current structure of the financing of higher education affects students and colleges, and the implications these responses have for students’ educational attainment, labor market outcomes, and financial wellbeing. She served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary and Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Education in 2022 and as an education fellow in the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in 2018-19. Prior to joining the University of Chicago, Dr. Turner was an Associate Professor of Economics at Vanderbilt University and Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. She holds a joint B.A./M.P.P. program from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University.
Selected Publications
- Taking It to the Limit: Effects of Increased Student Loan Availability on Attainment, Earnings, and Financial Well-Being
American Economic Review 113(12): 3357-3400, 2023.
Joint with Sandra E. Black, Jeffrey T. Denning, Lisa J. Dettling, Sarena Goodman.
— Online Appendix
— Econofact blog post
— Coverage: New York Times Dealbook, Brookings Institution Hutchins Roundup
- Race and Nativity Earnings Gaps: The Role of College Networks
Economics of Education Review 93: 102356, 2023.
Joint with Colin Chellman and Dylan Conger.
- Effects of the Menu of Loan Contracts on Borrower Behavior
Management Science 68(1): 509-528, 2022.
Joint with Katharine G. Abraham, Emel Filiz-Ozbay, & Y. Erkut Ozbay.
- Where Do Students Go when For-Profit Colleges Lose Federal Aid?
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 12(2): 46-83, 2020.
Joint with Stephanie R. Cellini and Rajeev Darolia.
— Online Appendix
— Brookings Institution blog post
— The Education Exchange Podcast
— Coverage: The Atlantic, Inside Higher Ed, Bloomberg
- Paralysis by Analysis? Effects of Information on Student Loan
Take-up
Economics of Education Review 77: 102010, 2020.
Joint with Benjamin M. Marx.
— Slides
— Coverage: MarketWatch: (1) June 3, 2019, (2) June 27, 2019
- Framing Effects, Earnings Expectations, and the Design of Student Loan Repayment Schemes
Journal of Public Economics 183:104067, 2020.
Joint with Katharine G. Abraham, Emel Filiz Ozbay, and Erkut Y. Ozbay.
— Online Appendix
— Slides
- ProPelled: The Effects of Grants on Graduation, Earnings, and Welfare
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 11(3): 193-224, 2019.
Joint with Jeffrey T. Denning and Benjamin M. Marx.
— Online Appendix
— Slides
— NBER working paper version
— Coverage: New York Times, Inside Higher Ed, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics blog
- Student Loan Nudges: Experimental Evidence on Borrowing and Educational Attainment
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 11(2): 108-141, 2019.
Joint with Benjamin M. Marx.
— Online Appendix
— Education Next (nontechnical) version
— The EdNext Podcast
— Coverage: New York Times, MarketWatch, Inside Higher Ed: (1) November 2018, (2) February 2019, (3) July 2019, NPR: (1) November 2018, (2) Life Kit podcast, Wall Street Journal, Maryland Today