Skip to main content

Zack Mabel

Research Professor

Zack Mabel is a Research Professor of Education and Economics at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, where he leads research projects that leverage insights from labor and behavioral economics to promote educational opportunity, equity, and economic mobility. His work is motivated by the goal of improving college and later life outcomes for members of historically marginalized groups to achieve a shared vision of economic prosperity in the United States.

Zack has examined issues of educational opportunity and equity through the lens of economics and public policy for over 10 years. Prior to joining CEW, he worked most recently as a Policy Research Scientist at the College Board, where he designed, executed, communicated, and published evidence on academic preparation, postsecondary investment, and college affordability. Zack also served as Co-Principal Investigator of Nudges to the Finish Line, a five-year, U.S. Department of Education-funded evaluation of a randomized intervention designed to help college students who are close to earning a degree but at risk of dropping out complete their studies.

Over the course of his career, Zack has cultivated a robust research agenda on the economics of higher education. His research has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Education Finance & Policy, Economics of Education Review, and Research in Higher Education.

Zack earned his BA from Brandeis University, MPP from the University of Michigan, and EdD in Quantitative Policy Analysis of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.