Cassandra Merritt

Cassandra Merritt is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics at University of California, Davis. She is a labor economist with a focus in the economics of education -- her primary interests are oriented around the role of more granular educational units (e.g. courses) in human capital formation, the efficacy of schools & education-related interventions, and the changing landscape of work and labor markets. Her recent projects investigate the impact of broadening course offerings and innovations in college advising. Many of these projects leverage rich restricted-use administrative datasets that Cassandra developed expertise with as team member of the California Education Lab, where she has contributed to a number of policy briefs related to college & career readiness and secondary math curricula. Cassandra also has academic work characterizing the determinants of changing work in the US around the turn of the 21st century based on the changing universe of job titles cataloged by government statistical agencies over time. Prior to UC Davis, Cassandra served as a field economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She previously earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of Edinburgh and a bachelor’s degree in mathematical business economics from Hofstra University. She expects to enter the 2024-25 economics job market and graduate from UC Davis by June 2025.