Talks & Testimony

Presentation (video): Understanding the Effect of the HAIL Scholarship on Student Decisions

The National Center for Institutional Diversity's inaugural University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor Lecture featuring Susan Dynarski, with introduction by Robert Sellers and moderated by Tabbye Chavous.

National Center for Institutional Diversity

Ann Arbor, MI - April 12, 2021

Testimony (video): The Cost of Non-Completion: Improving Student Outcomes in Higher Education

U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor hearing

U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor

Washington, DC - May 9, 2019

Presentation (video): What Female Economists Learned Bringing Research to White House Policy Making

Sandra E. Black, Betsey Stevenson, and Susan Dynarski discuss what they learned bringing research to White House policymaking.

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI - April 2018

Testimony (testimony and video): Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Financial Aid Simplification and Transparency

U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee

Washington, DC - January 18, 2018

Presentation (slides): Five Myths About Student Loans

Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management 2016 Annual Fall Research Conference

Washington, DC - November 2016

Multimedia Presentation (video): Susan Dynarski: Giving Back to Other First Generation College Students

There’s a sensitivity that comes from being a first-generation college student, says Dynarski. Those struggles inform her theories and drive her research agenda.

Boston, MA - September 2016

Conference: Restructuring Student Loans: Lessons from Abroad

The Education Policy Initiative hosted an international comparative conference to provide policymakers, analysts and press with cross-national perspectives on student debt and repayment. We convened leading international and domestic experts to discuss options to improve US student loan policies. The goal was to enrich the US conversation around student loans with perspectives on how other countries structure aid, borrowing and repayment.

Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC - June 2016

Presentation (video): Is there a Student Debt Crisis?

Rohit Chopra and Susan Dynarski discuss the repercussions of the $1.3 trillion dollar student loan deficit on higher education and economic inequality.

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI - January 2016

TED Talk (video): Why Financial Aid is Broken and a Simple Solution to Fix It

The federal system of student financial aid is broken. For the low-income, first generation college students that aid intends to help, it’s a serious roadblock on the route to college. What if we eliminated the aid application altogether?

TEDx Indianapolis - November 2015

Presentation (video): Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Childhood Investments on Post-secondary Attainment and Degree Completion

Do smaller classes in primary education promote student achievement? What other educational and social outcomes result from smaller classes?

Ministry of Education, Madrid, Spain - March 2014

Related Resources: Published Paper

Presentation (video): Loans for Educational Opportunity

University of Michigan's Susan Dynarski joins a panel discussion moderated by MIT's Michael Greenstone on making borrowing work for today's students through income-contingent repayment.

Hamilton Project Washington, DC - October, 2013

Related Resources: Published Paper

Testimony (video): Education Tax Incentives and Tax Reform

"We should simplify and focus the tax incentives, and coordinate them with Title IV programs." - Susan Dynarski

In testimony before the US Senate Finance Committee, Susan Dynarski proposed that the goal of federal aid and the education tax incentives is to open the doors of college to those who have the ability but not the means to attend. Through some simple reforms, the government can serve this goal more effectively and efficiently. The current education tax benefits provide relief for middle- and high-income families with children in college but do little to get more people into college.

Related Resources: Testimony of Susan Dynarski

US Senate Finance Committee, Washington, DC - July 2012

Presentation (video): Inequality in Post-Secondary Attainment

Inequality in wealth and income appears to be growing in the United States, and in some other areas of the world. This widening gap often leads to unequal opportunities in education, career paths, inter-generational upward mobility, and in politics.

California State University, Fullerton - May, 2012