News

October 2026

Paper on Income-Contingent Tuition Forthcoming in the Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics

The electorate’s preferences for using tuition to finance higher education strongly depend on the payment design. In representative surveys of the German electorate (N>25,000), we experimentally replace regular upfront payments by deferred income-contingent payments. The treatment increases support for tuition by 18 percentage points, turning a minority into a majority of 62 percent. Additional experiments show similar effects when framed as loan repayments and in a survey of adolescents. Reduced fairness concerns and improved student situations act as strong mediators. Payment deferral and means testing both contribute to the overall effect, but deferral accounts for most of it. 

Income Contingency and the Electorate’s Support for Tuition (with P. Lergetporer). Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, forthcoming [tweet] 

New Working Paper: Long-Term Effects of Integrated vs. Separated Schooling for Refugee Children

Does direct integration into native schools or temporary placement in separate schools better promote the education and cultural assimilation of refugee children? In the Netherlands, primary-school-aged refugee children are placed in either integrated or separated schools depending on their randomly assigned municipality. By contrast, all secondary-school-aged arrivals are initially separated. We exploit this institutional setting in two-way fixed-effects models with age-at-arrival and municipality fixed effects. Using rich administrative data, we find that integrated schooling reduces educational attainment at age 18, particularly for children of lower-educated parents. At the same time, integrated schooling increases cultural assimilation, measured by hormonal-contraceptive usage among teenage women, particularly for children from non-Muslim-majority countries. A distinctive feature of separated schooling that may account for its positive educational effect is that it allows employing teachers specialized in native-language teaching for non-native speakers. 

Integrated vs. Separated Schooling for Refugee Children: Long-Term Effects on Education and Assimilation (with C. Pavese and S. ter Meulen). CESifo Working Paper 13023 / IZA Discussion Paper 18979, October 2026 

Educational Trilogue 

Together with Andreas Schleicher (OECD) and Axel Plünnecke (IW), I participated in a trilogue moderated by Nicola Brandt (OECD) on the topic of “Achieving the Educational Upturn.” The webinar is available online.

ifo Education Survey 2026: What Do Parents and the General Public Think about Early Childhood Education?

The ifo Education Survey 2026 surveys the adult population in Germany as well as parents of children aged up to six years on the topic of early childhood education. Respondents are largely satisfied with local daycare centers: 53% of Germans give them high grades (1 or 2), and among parents, that figure rises to 65%. More than half of parents have little difficulty finding a daycare spot, but just under a quarter face significant difficulties. The shortage of daycare spots and a poor staff-to-child ratio are viewed as the most pressing problems. To attract more childcare professionals, higher pay and less bureaucratic red tape are favored. Large majorities support having more men and career changers among childcare professionals. 72% of Germans support a mandatory preschool year, and 79% support nationwide, uniform, binding educational goals for early childhood education. More than three-quarters support giving priority in the allocation of daycare spots to families with a single parent or parents who work full-time. An overwhelming majority (89 %) supports mandatory language tests at age four and a half. The general public and parents are divided on whether the pedagogical use of digital media in early childhood education has a positive or negative impact on children’s development.

Frühkindliche Bildung in Deutschland: Was denken Eltern und Gesamtbevölkerung? Ergebnisse des ifo Bildungsbarometers 2026 (with K. Wedel, V. Freundl, S. Gómez, and F. Pfaehler). ifo Schnelldienst digital 7 (17), 2026 [post: LinkedIn]

September 2026

Op-ed in Handelsblatt on PISA Decline 

Wir brauchen einen neuen Leistungsanspruch. Handelsblatt, No. 183, 23.9.2026, p. 22

TV Report on BR24 following the Disappointing PISA Results

A BR24 feature on TV (starting at 1 min), radio (starting at 1:30 min), and online featuring my statement explores the role of parents in education.

Here's How Much a Low Grade in Math Will Cost You Later in Your Salary

In its article “Here's How Much a Low Grade in Math Will Cost You Later in Your Salary,” the Bild newspaper reports on our research into the income effects of better academic performance. Woessmann: "Better academic performance which corresponds to one grade at the Gymnasium is associated with a monthly income that is about 500 euros higher later on. For other school types, the figure is around 320 euros." Werkmeister: "It’s not the grade itself that’s decisive, but the additional skills that a better grade represents. Learning more pays off later in the form of higher income." Here is the underlying calculation methodology. 

Interview in bayerische schule on Investments in the Education System

Es bringt nichts, einfach nur mehr Geld ins System zu pumpen. bayerische schule 79 (5), 2026, pp. 28-33

The Economist Covers Our Research on PISA

In its September 12, 2026, issue, The Economist covers our research findings: "At the national level, improvements in a country’s braininess appear to track closely with later bursts of economic growth; one analysis by Ludger Woessmann and Eric Hanushek, two economists, concludes that increasing PISA test scores by 25 points could push up annual GDP growth in rich countries by half a percentage point."

August 2026

Interview in Wirtschaftswoche: You Can't Do Anything without Reading and Math

Nichts geht ohne Lesen und Rechnen. Wirtschaftswoche, No. 33, 7.8.2026, pp. 30-31

Article in SchuB Magazine about our Opportunity Monitor

SchuB—the Online Magazine on Schools in the Spotlight—has published an article on the Opportunity Monitor by ifo and “A Heart for Children.”

July 2026

Lead Article on Education Focus

Investition Bildung: Bessere Bildung stärkt Chancen und Wachstum (with K. Werkmeister). Städtetag aktuell 3/2026: 4-5, 2026 

June 2026

Podcast “State of the Nation” on the Opportunity Monitor

The podcast “State of the Nation” discusses our Opportunity Monitor in detail, featuring clips of me.

May 2026

Social Media – Education – Integrity: New Report by the Expert Council on Education 

The new report by the Expert Council on Education examines the topic of social media from an educational perspective. The education system should prepare the next generation to engage with social media in a digitally competent and socially responsible manner. We refer to media integrity—the reflective and respectful interaction with one another. To ensure that children and young people can handle social media content independently and confidently and are effectively protected from the hazards of the digital world, much needs to be done at the levels of policymaking, educational institutions, teaching staff, and families. As always, we examine the topic from early childhood education to adult education.

Selected media coverage: spiegel.de, zeit.de, Bildung.Table, u.v.a.

Social Media – Bildung – Integrität. Gutachten des Aktionsrats Bildung. Münster: Waxmann, 2026

Research Insight on Religion and Economic Growth

Religion and Economic Growth: What We Know and Why It Matters (with S.O. Becker and J. Rubin). RFBerlin Research Insights 18/26, 2026

Interview on Education as a Growth Strategy in SchuB Magazine 

Lesen, Schreiben und Rechnen werden noch wichtiger. SchuB - Das Online-Magazin für Schulen im Brennpunkt, 18.5.2026

The Opportunity Monitor by ifo and “A Heart for Children”

The Opportunity Monitor by ifo and “A Heart for Children” shows that educational opportunities for children in Germany continue to depend heavily on their family background. The probability of attending a Gymnasium is 16.9% for a child whose parents do not have a high school diploma and come from the lowest income quartile without a migrant background. In contrast, it is 80.3% if the child grows up with parents who have a high school diploma, in the top income quartile, and with a migrant background. The parents’ education and income carry particularly significant weight here. Furthermore, the probability of attending a Gymnasium is 6.6 percentage points lower for boys (36.9%) than for girls (43.5%). The gender gap is present across all family background groups but is somewhat less pronounced in the highest education and income groups. Recommendations to improve opportunities for children from disadvantaged families include (1) early childhood education programs, (2) support for families, (3) high-quality teachers in schools with disadvantaged children, (4) free tutoring programs, (5) delayed school tracking, and (6) mentoring programs. Recommendations for improving opportunities for boys include (1) more male educators and teachers, (2) reflection on gender stereotypes, teaching methods, and educational approaches, (3) early promotion of reading skills and (4) self-regulation for boys, (5) parental engagement, and (6) extracurricular efforts to strengthen boys’ educational aspirations.

Selected media coverage: ZDF heute, Morgenmagazin, BR24 TV, tagesschau.de, zdfheute.de, Bild, Bild Video, Spiegel, Zeit, FAZ 1, FAZ 2, Welt, Handelsblatt, Tagesspiegel, dpa, Deutschlandfunk, BR Radio, SWR Radio, Wiarda Blog, Bildung.Table,  LinkedIn News, u.v.a. 

Der Chancenmonitor von ifo und „Ein Herz für Kinder”: Große Bildungsunterschiede nach sozialer Herkunft – Jungen seltener auf dem Gymnasium (with V. Freundl, F. Pfaehler, F. Schoner, and O. Tsaberiaba). ifo Schnelldienst digital 7 (5), 2026 [post: LinkedIn]

February 2026

Visiting Stanford University 

I am back at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University under my Distinguished Visiting Fellowship to work on a joint project with Rick Hanushek for a couple of weeks. 

January 2026

Now out in the Economic Journal: Patience and Regional Educational Achievement using Facebook Data

Decisions to invest in human capital depend on people’s time preferences. This paper shows that differences in patience are closely related to substantial subnational differences in educational achievement, leading to new perspectives on longstanding within-country disparities. We use social-media data – Facebook interests – to construct novel regional measures of patience within Italy and the United States. The approach is first validated with a cross-country analysis of patience and Facebook interests. We then show that patience is strongly positively associated with student achievement across regions in both countries, accounting for three-quarters of the achievement variation across Italian regions and one-third across U.S. states. The finding is confirmed in an identification strategy employing variation in ancestry countries of the current population of U.S. states. Results hold for six other countries with more limited regional achievement data.

Patience and Subnational Differences in Human Capital: Regional Analysis with Facebook Interests (with E.A. Hanushek, L. Kinne, and P. Sancassani). Economic Journal 136 (673): 335-350, 2026 [post: X Bluesky LinkedIn tweet1]