Ashlyn Aiko Nelson

Education

• Ph.D., Economics of Education, Stanford University, 2005
• M.A., Economics, Stanford University, 2003
• B.A. ( summa cum laude) Economics; B.S. (magna cum laude) Business Administration, University of Southern California, 2001

Courses

• Public Program Evaluation
• Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision-Making

Biography

Dr. Ashlyn Aiko Nelson is an economist who studies how housing markets and financial institutions and policies influence the education market. Her research examines the causes and consequences of inequality in the overlapping housing and public education sectors. Nelson''s work, funded with support from the MacArthur Foundation and the National Science Foundation, has been published in outlets including the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Review of Economics and Statistics, Review of Financial Studies, Economics Letters, Education Finance and Policy, and Public Administration Review. Nelson joined the SPEA faculty in 2009. She also holds courtesy appointments in Economics and in Education Leadership and Policy Studies.

Prior to her current appointment, Nelson completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Center for Education Policy Analysis at Stanford University. In addition to her academic background, Nelson formerly served as Assistant Vice President of Analysis and Information Management at Bank of America, served as the fair lending officer at IndyMac Bank, and earned her teaching credential while teaching eighth and eleventh grade English in the Los Angeles Unified School District.