Harvard Kennedy School

August 29, 2024
Ideas from Harvard Kennedy School

A professor delivers a lecture to students at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. Photo by Josh Reynolds/AP Photos.

EDUCATION, TRAINING & LABOR

What are the benefits and risks of tuition-free community college?

Massachusetts has now made community colleges tuition-free, joining many other states and localities. In a recent conversation, Professor David Deming, a scholar of education and workforce development, explains the benefits and risks. He says the program is fairly inexpensive for the state to implement and makes it easier for more people to pursue a degree. “The administrative burden of applying for aid looms just as large as the financial cost,” he says, “but knowing that it will be free at the end of the day could make more people take the plunge.” At the same time, there are potential concerns. According to Deming, “The primary risk of free community college is that we will focus too much on price, and not enough on quality.”

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

Assistant Professor Desmond Ang on Black veterans and the Civil Rights Movement

Collage of veterans, civil rights movement photos, and blocks.

POLITICS

Looking at the presidential election from a media lens

With the U.S. presidential race approaching the final straight, legacy media and social media are key in shaping public perceptions of the candidates and their stands. We spoke with HKS Professors Nancy Gibbs and Thomas Patterson, who have deep experience watching how media cover presidential campaigns. Gibbs says, “The research shows that for younger voters especially, individual influencers are more trusted on platforms like Snapchat and TikTok than journalists are. In this election, attention is still finite, but content is practically infinite—so while traditional journalists are still valuable, the competition they face for people’s time and attention is ferocious.” Patterson says, “Studies also show that most of the political news on social media originates with traditional media. It gets reshaped as it works its way through social media but usually starts with the work of reporters.”

See also: Explore HKS faculty members’ insights and analysis of issues related to the U.S. presidential election.

WHAT WE'RE LEARNING

Research from Professor Robert Lawrence on clean energy incentives

Three wind turbines in front of a blue background with red and green zigzagging graph lines.

FAIRNESS & JUSTICE

Improving public safety and helping communities thrive

Professor Sandra Susan Smith and the Roundtable on Racial Disparities in Massachusetts Criminal Courts have produced a new study on public safety and what communities need to thrive. The researchers spoke with people from four Boston communities that share a troubled relationship with law enforcement. Through focus groups, the researchers identified three themes for creating a thriving community: a healthy built environment, greater investments in capital development, and access to high quality physical and mental healthcare. “What comes through powerfully from these focus group meetings is the level of sophistication that residents have in identifying the very real structural barriers to thriving their communities face and offering concrete, workable solutions to overcome these,” Smith says.

WHAT WE'RE READING

Dean Jeremy Weinstein speaks about his research and policy experience—and his return to Harvard

Dean Jeremy Weinstein sitting and leaning on his knees while smiling for a photo in front of green foliage.

GENDER, RACE & IDENTITY

10 years of collected research on gender

The Gender Action Portal (GAP), based at the Kennedy School’s Women and Public Policy Program, has reached 10 years of aggregating and translating research on gender. It has become an invaluable tool for policymakers, researchers, and others, featuring summaries of over 300 studies related to gender. More than 1 million unique users have accessed GAP since its launch a decade ago. Professor Iris Bohnet, who is the principal investigator for the portal says, “The thinking behind GAP was that it would be a tool to inform data-driven policy, practices, and procedures related to gender equity, and make the best available evidence accessible around the globe. I am delighted that so many people and organizations are benefitting from GAP.”

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

Professors Archon Fung and Alex Keyssar on political violence

Protestor holding an American flag in front of armed guards in riot gear standing in front of a building.

IN THE NEWS

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Nuclear treaties and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict [Matthew Bunn] Harvard Magazine

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Another ‘nasty’ woman strikes fear in Trump [Erica Chenoweth, Zoe Marks] New York Times

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Readers prefer to click on a clear, simple headline—like this one [Todd Rogers] The Conversation

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Cooling U.S. jobs market looms over central bankers at Jackson Hole [Karen Dynan] Financial Times

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How U.S. military planning has shifted away from fighting terrorism to readying for tensions and conflict with China and Russia [Eric Rosenbach] The Conversation

August 29, 2024 Ideas from Harvard Kennedy School

EDUCATION, TRAINING & LABOR

What are the benefits and risks of tuition-free community college?

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

Assistant Professor Desmond Ang on Black veterans and the Civil Rights Movement

POLITICS

Looking at the presidential election from a media lens

WHAT WE'RE LEARNING

Research from Professor Robert Lawrence on clean energy incentives

FAIRNESS & JUSTICE

Improving public safety and helping communities thrive

WHAT WE'RE READING

Dean Jeremy Weinstein speaks about his research and policy experience—and his return to Harvard

GENDER, RACE & IDENTITY

10 years of collected research on gender

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

Professors Archon Fung and Alex Keyssar on political violence

IN THE NEWS

August 29, 2024
Ideas from Harvard Kennedy School