Stanford GSE Fully Funded PhD Opportunity in Early Childhood Education Policy
Stanford University
Assistant Professor Katharine Sadowski is accepting one PhD student at Stanford Graduate School of Education for Fall 2027. The opportunity suits applicants with strong quantitative preparation, economics and quasi-experimental methods, and prior education-research experience who want to study how public policy affects childcare access and the early-childhood workforce.
Assistant Professor Katharine Sadowski is accepting one Ph.D. student at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education for Fall 2027.
Her research measures how local, state and federal U.S. policies affect access to early childcare and the childcare workforce. Professor Sadowski is an applied microeconomist working across labour and public economics, the economics of education and policy analysis, using methods that include econometrics, quasi-experimental designs, natural-language processing and machine learning.
The strongest candidates will have a quantitative profile, preparation in economics and quasi-experimental methods, and prior experience conducting education research. Relevant Stanford GSE doctoral affiliations include SHIPS Economics of Education, Educational Policy and Education Data Science; applicants should choose the formal subplan that best fits their preparation and research goals.
Funding: all admitted Stanford GSE Ph.D. students, including international students, automatically receive a five-year funding package, subject to satisfactory academic progress. The package combines tuition aid, fellowship stipend and assistantship salary and is designed to cover Stanford's standard cost of attendance for a modest graduate-student budget. Assistantship work and physical presence on campus are required under the programme's funding model.
Admission: email your CV to Professor Sadowski at ksadow@stanford.edu to introduce your background and research fit. You must also submit Stanford GSE's formal Ph.D. application by November 16, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Faculty contact does not replace the application, and final admission decisions are made by the admissions committee.
Benefits
- One doctoral supervision opportunity with Assistant Professor Katharine Sadowski.
- Automatic five-year Stanford GSE funding package for admitted Ph.D. students, subject to satisfactory academic progress.
- Tuition aid, fellowship stipend and assistantship salary designed to cover the standard cost of attendance.
- Research training in applied microeconomics, education policy, causal inference, childcare access and workforce policy.
- Affiliation with Stanford Graduate School of Education and its early-childhood and quantitative-policy research community.
Eligibility summary
- Prospective Stanford GSE Ph.D. applicants for Fall 2027.
- Strong quantitative academic and research preparation.
- Background in economics, especially quasi-experimental or causal-inference methods.
- Prior education-research experience.
- Research fit with early-childhood education, childcare access, labour markets, education policy or related quantitative policy questions.
- No nationality restriction is stated; Stanford GSE confirms that admitted international Ph.D. students receive the same five-year funding package.
- Applicants must satisfy Stanford Graduate Admissions and the selected GSE doctoral subplan's requirements.
Requirements
- Email a CV to Professor Sadowski for preliminary research-fit consideration.
- Submit Stanford's online graduate application by November 16, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.
- Identify two or three potential faculty advisors in the statement of purpose; include Professor Sadowski where appropriate.
- Complete the supplemental quantitative, empirical-research and programming questions required by the chosen SHIPS subplan.
- The GRE is optional for 2027-2028 admission and not submitting it does not disadvantage the application.
- Provide TOEFL or IELTS evidence if Stanford's English-proficiency exemption criteria are not met.
Documents required
- CV for the preliminary email to Professor Sadowski.
- Online graduate application.
- One- to two-page statement of purpose.
- Resume or curriculum vitae.
- Three online letters of recommendation.
- Transcripts from every college or university attended for at least one full-time academic year.
- Selected SHIPS subplan supplemental responses and any required writing sample.
- TOEFL or IELTS score when required; GRE score is optional.
Language/test requirements
How to submit applications
Provider: Stanford Graduate School of Education
Faculty: https://ed.stanford.edu/faculty/ksadow Application requirements: https://ed.stanford.edu/admissions/application-reqs/programs Funding: https://ed.stanford.edu/admissions/financing/doctoral
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