UMich’s Kevin Stange joins US Department of Education

University of Michigan associate professor Kevin Stange has joined the U.S. Department of Education for a one-year appointment as an adviser.

In the role, he will join the office of Jordan Matsudaira, who in June was appointed as the first-ever chief economist at the federal agency.

Stange is associate professor of public policy at the Ford School of Public Policy, where he teaches graduate courses in higher education policy, economics and quantitative methods. His research focuses primarily on empirical labor and public economics, with a focus on education and health care.

The economist’s prior research has examined college enrolment and persistence, the effect of resources and peers on community college students and the effects of different pricing structures on major choice and student credit load.

Before joining the Ford School, he was a Robert Wood Johnson scholar in health policy research at the University of Michigan. He received undergraduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from MIT and his PhD in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

During the appointment, Stange will be on leave for the 2022-2023 calendar year.