Sofoklis Goulas

Economist

Sofoklis Goulas
Sofoklis Goulas

Economist

CV Portfolio
About Me

Sofoklis Goulas is a Senior Researcher at Foundry10 and a Research Affiliate at Yale University’s MacMillan Center. He is also the co-founder and director of public-policy programs at the Aletheia Research Institution and a research affiliate of the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Previously, he was a Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Researcher at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Earlier in his career he held research and consulting roles with the Center for Community Capital at UNC–Chapel Hill, the Bank of Greece, and the World Bank.

Expertise
Applied Microeconomics
Causal Inference
Human Capital
Public Policy
Experience
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Student testimonials

I was very impressed by your passion for the subject and your compassion for our class. I will always remember the "Good luck" messages you sent to our class just before our midterms.
It is a lot harder to learn economics without your help. I would just like to say thanks so much for all of your help last year. You really helped through Econ 101 and in fact because of you and the class I have developed an interest in economics, which I never thought I would.
I honestly don't know if I would have done as well if you had not been my TA and I would definitely nominate you for a teaching award.
You are one of the best teaching assistants that I have had here at Carolina.
I feel like during the 3 years I have been here at UNC you were the most enthusiastic TA I had. Most graduate student teachers I have had do not come across as having any passion at all for teaching, but I feel like you would actually be a very good instructor.
I really appreciate how you always took extra time to help me understand concepts, and you definitely made it easier for me to excel in Econ.
Mr. Goulas was a great instructor. His materials were easy to follow and he was very thorough in the structure of his lectures, making sure to outline the day’s topics on the board at the beginning of each class and marking them off as we discussed each topic that day. He was happy to reexplain complicated topics. He was also easy to contact and always friendly and patient. I enjoyed having him as an instructor.
Vitae
EMPLOYMENT & AFFILIATIONS
Senior Researcher, Education Economist
01/2026-
Senior Researcher, Education Economist
Research Associate
01/2026-
Research Associate
Yale University

MacMillan Center

Associate Research Scholar
08/2025-01/2026
Associate Research Scholar
Yale University

MacMillan Center

Co-Founder
07/2021
Co-Founder
Aletheia Research Institution, Palo Alto, CA

Board Member & Director of Public Policy Programs.

Fellow
02/2023-06/2025
Fellow
The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC

Economic Studies.

Senior Research Associate
04/2017-01/2023
Senior Research Associate
Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), Hoover Institution

Impact Evaluation Consultant
03/2022-12/2022
Impact Evaluation Consultant
The World Bank, Washington, DC
Research Design Consultant
07/2022-05/2023
Research Design Consultant
100Mentors, Ed Tech Company, Athens, Greece
Visiting Scholar
04/2024-04/2024
Visiting Scholar
Monash Business School

Department of Economics

Visiting Scholar
03/2022-06/2022
Visiting Scholar
University of Essex, Colchester, UK

Institute for Economics and Social Research

Consultant on Business Analytics and Strategy
07/2017-05/2019
Consultant on Business Analytics and Strategy
Lumsden and Partners, M&A Law Firm, Vienna, Austria
Graduate Research Assistant
08/2013-05/2015
Graduate Research Assistant
UNC-Chapel Hill

Center for Community Capital

Visiting Researcher
05/2012-07/2012
Visiting Researcher
Bank of Greece

Economic Research Division

Research Affiliate
04/2024-
Research Affiliate
IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Fellow
01/2018-
Fellow
Global Labor Organization
Education
Ph.D. in Economics <font color="#808080"></font>
2011-2017
Ph.D. in Economics
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

UNC Highest Impact Graduate Research Award; Omicron Delta Epsilon

MS in Economics <font color="#808080"> </font>
2011-2013
MS in Economics
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
MSc in Finance and Economics </br> <font color="#808080"></font>
2010-2011
MSc in Finance and Economics
Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
Ptychion in Economics</br><font color="#808080"> </font>
2006-2010
Ptychion in Economics
University of Piraeus

Class Valedictorian

Research

November 2024 The Value of Remote Work: A Correspondence Experiment on Tutors
December 2024 Top-performing Girls are more Impactful Peer Role Models than Boys, Teachers Say

Co Authors : Panos Sotirakopoulos and Rigissa Megalokonomou
Outlet : Proceeding of the National Academy of Science (PNAS)
November 2024 Can State Family Support Policies Level the Playing Field for Early-Career Women in Plastic Surgery? An Analysis of Web-Scraped Data

Co Authors : Reid Smith, Georgios Karamitros, and Heather J. Furnas
Outlet : Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
November 2024 Females, Classroom Disruption, and STEM Careers

Co Authors : Rigissa Megalokonomou and Yi Zhang
November 2024 Disruptive Peers and Academic Performance: Short- and Long-Term Educational Outcomes

Co Authors : Silvia Griselda, Rigissa Megalokonomou, and Yves Zenou
November 2024 Optimal Cohort Partitions

Co Authors : Faidra Monachou
Featured in :

25th ACM Conference in Economics & Computation
October 2024 Human Capital and Productivity in Surgery Research Across the Globe: A Big Data Analysis Using AI

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros
Outlet : Journal of Surgical Research, IF: 2.3
Link : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2024.09.047
September 2024 Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era

Outlet : Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Featured in :

K-12 Dive, The 74 Million, Forbes


Link : https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/underachieving-and-underenrolled-chronically-low-performing-schools-post-pandemic
September 2024 Gender Role Models in Education

Co Authors : Bhagya Gunawardena, Rigissa Megalokonomou, Yves Zenou
Award : Best Paper Award, 36th PhD Conference in Economics and Business, University of Western Australia
Publication Status : Submitted
Link : https://cepr.org/publications/dp19432
August 2024 Female Neighbors and Careers in Science

Co Authors : Rigissa Megalokonomou, Yi Zhang
Outlet : Research Policy (FT 50, ABS: 4)
Link : https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10112.pdf
June 2024 Twelve facts about the economics of education
May 2024 Why did schools lose students after COVID-19?

Co Authors : Isabelle Pula
Outlet : Brookings Institution
Link : https://www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/post/why-did-schools-lose-students-after-covid-19/
May 2024 How to Harness the Power of Web-Scraping for Medical and Surgical Research: An Application in Estimating International Collaboration

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros
Outlet : World Journal of Surgery, IF: 3.0
Link : http://doi.org/10.1002/wjs.12220
April 2024 The Perceived Impact of COVID-19 on Graduate Medical Education and Recommendations for Bridging the Educational Gap

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros
Outlet : Journal of Surgical Research, IF: 2.3
Link : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022480424001987
March 2024 Ten economic facts about rental housing

Co Authors : Lauren Bauer, Eloise Burtis, Wendy Edelberg, Noadia Steinmetz-Silber, Sarah Yu Wang
Outlet : Brookings Institution
Link : https://www.hamiltonproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/20240321_THP_HousingFacts.pdf
March 2024 Breaking down enrollment declines in public schools
October 2023 Declining school enrollment since the pandemic
August 2023 Deteriorating household finances will not support strong spending

Co Authors : Wendy Edelberg
Outlet : Brookings Institution
Featured in :

Bloomberg (1), Bloomberg (2), Bloomberg (3)
July 2023 Compulsory Class Attendance versus Autonomy

Co Authors : Silvia Griselda, Rigissa Megalokonomou
Outlet : Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, ABS: 3
Featured in :

VoxEU.org, The Conversation


Link : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016726812300224X
June 2023 The Association Between Surgical Disease Burden and Research Productivity in Surgery Across the Globe: A Big Data Comparative Analysis Using Artificial Intelligence

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros
Outlet : British Journal of Surgery, IF: 11.782
Link : https://academic.oup.com/bjs/article/110/9/1226/7227186
June 2023 Human Capital and Productivity in Surgery Research During a Pandemic: An Artificial Intelligence Approach

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros
Outlet : British Journal of Surgery, IF: 11.782
Link : https://academic.oup.com/bjs/article/110/9/1218/7209638
May 2023 The Impact of COVID-19 on Plastic Surgery Residents Across the World: A Country-, Region-, and Income-level Analysis

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros, Maria Wiedner, Vakis Kontoes
Outlet : Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, IF: 2.709
Award : Best Paper Award, International Association for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Annual Meeting 2023
Link : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00266-023-03389-w
April 2023 Women Representation in Plastic Surgery Across the Globe: A Cross-Sectional Study of Human Capital and Research Output Using Artificial Intelligence

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros
Outlet : Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery, IF: 4.0
Award : Best Poster Award, International Association for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Annual Meeting 2023
Link : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37130445/
February 2023 Human Capital and Productivity in Plastic Surgery Research During COVID-19: An Artificial Intelligence Approach

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros
Outlet : Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery, IF: 4.0
Link : https://www.jprasurg.com/article/S1748-6815(23)00055-4/fulltext
December 2022 Human Capital and Productivity in Plastic Surgery Research Across Nations

Co Authors : Georgios Karamitros
Outlet : Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, IF: 2.709
Link : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00266-022-03223-9
December 2022 Estimating the Recovery Time from Learning Losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic (16 State Volumes & Meta-analysis)

Co Authors : Margaret E. Raymond
Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
Featured in :

The74Million, Working Nation, Washington Times


Link : https://credo.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/meta_analysis_20230420_tr.pdf
June 2022 Comparative Advantage and Gender Gap in STEM

Co Authors : Silvia Griselda, Rigissa Megalokonomou
Outlet : Journal of Human Resources, ABS: 3
Award : Best Paper Award, 32nd PhD Conference in Economics and Business, Australian National University, 2019 Best Paper Award, Australian Gender Economics Workshop, 2020 Best Paper Award, UniCredit & Universities, Gender Economics, 2020
Featured in :

The Conversation


Link : https://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2022/06/01/jhr.0320-10781R2.abstract
August 2021 Alabama Broadband for Education

Co Authors : Chunping Han, Margaret E. Raymond
Outlet : Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Link : https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/alabama_webreadypdf_rev.pdf
February 2021 Vaccine reward – a potential way out of the pandemic

Co Authors : Robin Lumsden, Gregory P. La Blanc
Outlet : Lumsden and Partners
Featured in :

DerStandard
January 2021 Knowing who you actually are: The effect of Feedback on Short- and Longer-Term Outcomes

Co Authors : Rigissa Megalokonomou
Outlet : Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, ABS: 3*
Award : Best Paper Award, UniCredit & Universities, 2016 Belgrade Young Economist Conference
Link : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016726812100024X
December 2020 The Impact of Charter School Attendance on Student Performance in Washington State

Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
Link : https://credo.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2020_report_wa_08232020.pdf
October 2020 School Quality Management Report for 2018-19

Co Authors : Won Fy Lee
Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
August 2020 COVID-19 Simulation: Predicting Student 2019-20 Achievement

Co Authors : Chunping Han, Charla Waeiss, Won Fy Lee, Margaret E. Raymond
Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
Featured in :

The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Forbes, EducationNC, LA School Report


Link : https://credo.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/covid_sim_meta_analysis_final_v.3.pdf
May 2020 School Attendance during a Pandemic

Co Authors : Rigissa Megalokonomou
Outlet : Economics Letters, ABS: 3
Featured in :

VoxEU.org


Link : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176520301853
January 2020 Marathon, Hurdling or Sprint? The Effects of Exam Scheduling on Academic Performance

Co Authors : Rigissa Megalokonomou
Outlet : The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, ABS: 2
Featured in :

VoxEU.org


Link : https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/bejeap-2019-0177/html
November 2019 The Impact of Charter School Attendance on Student Performance in South Carolina

Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
Link : https://credo.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/sc_report_final_08292019.pdf
July 2019 School Quality Management Report for 2017-18

Co Authors : Chunping Han, Payton Richardson
Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
January 2019 The Impact of Charter School Attendance on Student Performance in Idaho

Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
Featured in :

IdahoEdnews


Link : https://credo.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/idaho_report_final.pdf
September 2018 School Quality Management Report for 2016-17

Co Authors : Justin Luu, Lynn Woodworth
Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
May 2018 The Impact of Charter School Attendance on Student Performance in Washington State

Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
Featured in :

The Seattle Times, The News Tribune


Link : https://credo.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2019_report_wa.pdf
December 2017 Which degrees do students prefer during recessions?

Co Authors : Rigissa Megalokonomou
Outlet : Empirical Economics, ABS: 2
Featured in :

The Conversation, Kathimerini, Capital.gr, LSE EUROPP


Link : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00181-018-1418-7
December 2017 The Impact of Scaling the New Orleans Restart Model on Student Performance

Co Authors : Margaret E. Raymond, Lauren Bierbaum, Lindsay Bell, Meghan Cotter Mazzola, Will Snow
Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
Featured in :

Forbes


Link : https://nolai3eval.stanford.edu/
February 2017 School Quality Management Report for 2015-16

Co Authors : Payton Richardson, Lynn Woodworth
Outlet : Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University
May 2015 Do Low-income Homeowners Maintain Their Homes?

Co Authors : Sarah Riley
Outlet : Center for Community Capital, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Award : Winner of the 2015 UNC Impact Award for Outstanding Graduate Research

“Declining school enrollment: it’s not all doom and gloom”

Remapping Debate, 

June 1, 2026

“These trends add new urgency for public schools to improve, said Sofoklis Goulas, an economist and former Brookings Institution fellow who has written about school enrollment declines. School districts must work harder to ‘find ways to provide education that the families want.'”

“Districts around the US are mulling school closures as student enrollment falls” 

Associated Press

September 24, 2025

“From 2019 to 2023, enrollment declined by 20% or more at nearly 1 in 12 public schools — roughly 5,100, according to a report published last year by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute […]”

“Artificial intelligence in schools?”

To Vima

September 7, 2025

Op-ed

“Tampa Bay area schools are, so far, seeing fewer students in class this year”

WUSF

September 2, 2025

“Various factors are contributing to enrollment declines across the nation, including a falling birth rate and education options outside of the traditional public school.”

“IMF: Increased Recession Risk in the US”

Naftemporiki TV (in Greek)

April 22, 2025

“The K-12 Education System: Economic Impacts and Opportunities for Innovation”

2025 Economic Report of the President

January 9, 2025

“While it is possible that post-pandemic enrollment declines in some public schools may help ease the pressure in these teacher labor markets (Goulas 2024), it will not address the underlying challenge of recruiting talented future educators or allocating teachers efficiently across subjects and geographic areas. “

“Louisiana public school enrollment is at its lowest level in decades.”

The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate / NOLA, Patrick Wall

December 5, 2024

“’During the pandemic, a lot of families explored alternative arrangements,’ including homeschool, said Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at the Brooking Institution.”

“A study says JCPS could close several schools that are losing students. Will it?”

The Courier-Journal, Krista Johnson

November 20, 2024

“The goal of the study, despite labeling schools as “candidates for closure,” isn’t to persuade districts to close all of those schools, nor to imply all of them are “bad schools,” the study’s author Sofoklis Goulas said” 

“A New Report on Post-Pandemic Under-Enrollment and Underachievement”

Education Talk, Podcast with Larry Jacobs

October 21, 2024

“Dr. Sofoklis Goulas is an economist. He is a Fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of “Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era,” published by the Fordham Institute last month.” 

“Report: Nearly 500 schools under enrolled and Chronically Underperforming”

The 74 Million, by Marianna McMurdock

September 26, 2024

“Analysis released yesterday by the Fordham Institute put forth a list of close to 500 strained schools as a ‘wake up call’ for districts to plan interventions such as family engagement, high dosage tutoring and address specific community concerns before they ‘find themselves pushed against a wall’ and forced to close schools, said author Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow with the Brookings Institution who built on his prior enrollment research in this latest study with Fordham.” 

“Should under-enrolled, low-performing schools be targeted for closure?”

K-12 Dive

September 26, 2024

“The study, written by Brookings Institution fellow Sofoklis Goulas, found that nearly 500 schools identified as chronically low performing by their states had substantial enrollment declines in the years following the pandemic’s onset”

“Enrollment, closings, and consolidations in COVID’s shadow”

EdNC

July 16, 2024

“’Recent data show more than a third of the public school enrollment losses cannot be explained by corresponding gains in private school and homeschool enrollment or by demographic change,’ says a report by the Brookings Institution and the Hamilton Project. ‘Dropping out of school and chronic truancy as potential contributors to this phenomenon are bound to have developmental, academic, and economic consequences for the affected children.’”

“Columbus public school enrollment on the decline” 

Axios

June 24, 2024

“A Brookings Institution analysis released last month found parents have been turned off from traditional public schooling since COVID and are seeking more flexible options, including home schooling and private and charter schools.” 

“School districts face financial reckoning amid budget shortfalls and declining enrollment”

WCVB-TV

June 20, 2024

“‘Traditional public schools have lost a lot of students after the COVID-19 pandemic,’ said Sofoklis Goulas, with Brookings Institution.”

“Thousands of San Diego students left local public schools”

Axios

June 14, 2024

“A Brookings analysis released last month found parents have been turned off from traditional public schooling since COVID for reasons including a desire for more learning flexibility.” 

“The number of births continues to fall, despite abortion bans”

The Daily Montanan

June 10, 2024

“The decline we see in enrollment since COVID-19 is a bigger problem than just the decline in birth rates,” said Sofoklis Goulas, an economic studies fellow at the Brookings Institution. Rural schools and urban high schools have been particularly hard hit, according to a Brookings report Goulas authored this year.

“D65 enrollment drop outpaces nation”

Evanston Now

May 21, 2024

“A new Brookings Institution report on federal school enrollment data shows urban and suburban school districts across the country are faced with declining enrollments… Brookings research suggests that the decline in public school enrollment is ‘not fully explained’ by changes in population, and charter or private school enrollment, suggesting ‘many families have chosen to homeschool after the pandemic.’ It also suggests, based on research in New York City, that parents are less satisfied with their local public schools now than they were before the pandemic.” 

“Why did enrollment plummet after COVID-19? Here are some answers”

District Administration

May 21, 2024

“The pandemic was the turning point for many parents, a new analysis from the economic policy initiative The Hamilton Project suggests. Many parents didn’t like what they saw and felt that their schools couldn’t deliver a sufficient pace of learning for their children, so they sought alternatives, the report contends.”

“Do alternatives to public school have to be political?”

EdSurge

May 20, 2024

“Many parents are clearly feeling a need for smaller, more personalized and more flexible schools […]”

“America’s school surplus is hurting some students”

Axios

May 19, 2024

“We are seeing some weakening of the handshake between families and schools, which is so important for student success,” said Sofoklis Goulas, a researcher at Brookings.

“The number of births continues to fall, despite abortion bans”

Yahoo!News

May 14, 2024

“[…] a bigger problem than just the decline in birth rates,” said Sofoklis Goulas, an economic studies fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“America Has Too Many Schools”

Wall Street Journal

May 9, 2024

Between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school year, urban schools lost nearly 850,000 students, or 5.5% of enrollment, according to an analysis of the most recent federal data by the Brookings Institution, done at The Wall Street Journal’s request.

“Biden administration continues to make progress on student loan forgiveness promise”

PolitiFact

April 30, 2024

Sofoklis Goulas, a senior research fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank, said although he “appreciates the Biden administration’s actions,” he believes these changes don’t address the problem’s root cause.

“Those plans to alleviate student debt are late fixes to an earlier problem,” Goulas said. “So, for me, it would make a lot more sense to find ways to reduce the cost of education on a person-to-person basis and, secondarily, fix the student debt issues.”

“The public school enrollment conundrum”

Marketplace

April 1, 2024

“Why school absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere”

The New York Times

March 29, 2024

In the four years since the pandemic closed schools, U.S. education has struggled to recover on a number of fronts, from learning loss, to enrollment, to student behavior.

“Kingsford Heights residents rally against closure of school”

The Times of Northern Indiana

March 14, 2024

In an October paper, Brookings researchers found that over a four-year period that includes the pandemic, about 12% of elementary schools and 9% of middle schools lost at least one-fifth of their enrollment. At The 74’s request, they expanded that data to include all 4,428 schools in the country that reached or exceeded a 20% decline.

The results were sobering: “Enrollment declines are everywhere,” said Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at Brookings.

“Lake Central schools preview future redistricting”

The Times of Northwest Indiana

March 5, 2024

“In an October paper, Brookings researchers found that over a four-year period that includes the pandemic, about 12% of elementary schools and 9% of middle schools lost at least one-fifth of their enrollment. At The 74’s request, they expanded that data to include all 4,428 schools in the country that reached or exceeded a 20% decline. The results were sobering: ‘Enrollment declines are everywhere,’ said Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at Brookings.”

“Get ready for ‘the bloodletting.’ School districts are in for a rocky budget season”

Fort Worth Star Telegram and Yahoo! News, by Silas Allen

March 4, 2024

“In a paper published last October, researchers at the Brookings Institution noted a sharp uptick in the number of students who have left traditional school districts for private schools, homeschooling or some other non-public option since 2019.”

“Facing a $42 million budget gap, Wichita will close some schools at the end of this school year”

KMUW, by Suzanne Perez

January 23, 2024

“Data prepared by researchers at the Brookings Institution shows that over a four-year period that includes the pandemic, about 12% of the nation’s public elementary schools and 9% of middle schools lost at least one-fifth of their enrollment.”

“Thousands of schools risk closure due to ‘massive’ enrollment loss: new report”

Fox News, by Joshua Nelson

January 18, 2024

“A new report shows that thousands of school districts risk closure due to ‘massive’ enrollment loss. The warning stems from an analysis of national enrollment data by the Brookings Institution and some reporting from The 74. Their analysis came after Brookings researchers found a decline in elementary and middle school enrollment, a one-fifth loss of their enrollment. ‘Enrollment declines are everywhere,’ Brookings Institution fellow Sofoklis Goulas said.

“Charter schools continue to grow across the Tampa Bay area”

WUSF, by Nancy Guan

January 17, 2024

“Sofoklis Goulas, an economics and education researcher with the Brookings Institution, said the COVID-19 pandemic impacted where families choose to send their kids to school now. Goulas said we need better data about where students are going to school. He added that even with reports from public schools, private schools and available home schooling data, there are children not accounted for. ‘We need to monitor student flows between different types of schools. This is very important so we can understand what families want,’ said Goulas.”

“Exclusive Data: Thousands of schools at risk of closing due to enrollment loss”

The 74 Million, by Linda Jacobson

January 9, 2024

“Sofoklis Goulas, an economics and education researcher with the Brookings Institution, said the COVID-19 pandemic impacted where families choose to send their kids to school now. Goulas said we need better data about where students are going to school. He added that even with reports from public schools, private schools and available home schooling data, there are children not accounted for. ‘We need to monitor student flows between different types of schools. This is very important so we can understand what families want,’ said Goulas.”

“Exclusive Data: Thousands of schools at risk of closing due to enrollment loss”

The 74 Million, by Linda Jacobson

January 9, 2024

“In an October paper, Brookings researchers found that over a four-year period that includes the pandemic, about 12% of elementary schools and 9% of middle schools lost at least one-fifth of their enrollment. At The 74’s request, they expanded that data to include all 4,428 schools in the country that reached or exceeded a 20% decline. The results were sobering: ‘Enrollment declines are everywhere,’ said Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at Brookings.”

“Chandler Unified losing more students than it expected”

12News, by Kevin Reagan and Colleen Sikora

January 9, 2024

“Researchers like Dr. Sofoklis Goulas of the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project said that enrollment declines on a national level go far beyond than just lower birth rates. ‘We see that the share of gains in public schools has declined from 84.2% in 2015-16, to 78.8% in 2021-22,’ Goulas said. ‘So we have an increase in the share of kids who are either in private schools or in common education or in other school arrangements.’”

“Report details severity of declining enrollment since before pandemic”

EdSource, by Karen D’Souza

January 10, 2024

“In an October report, Brookings researchers found that over four years including the pandemic, about 12% of elementary schools and 9% of middle schools lost at least one-fifth of their enrollment.  ‘Enrollment declines are everywhere,’ said Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at Brookings, as The 74 reported.”

“Student learning took a hit during the pandemic and the career mobility implications are enormous”

Working Nation, by Laura Aka

December 21, 2023

“There are likely numerous reasons for the drops in scores, according to Sofoklis Goulas, Ph.D., fellow with Brookings. ‘It is most likely a composite effect. We can suspect that it is related to distancing from traditional instructional approaches because school systems knew how to educate students in the classroom and, all of a sudden, they had to change that approach and find a new way to deliver instruction. And this disruption might have negatively impacted some students.’”

“How the child care cliff could yank back the labor market” 

POLITICO Morning Money, by Eleanor Mueller and Sam Sutton 

August 21, 2023 

“The savings American consumers accumulated during the pandemic have started to dwindle. And as households grow more reliant on regular paychecks to support spending, consumers are at a crossroads ‘as they consider how to alter their spending and whether to go deeper into debt,’ Wendy Edelberg and Sofoklis Goulas of the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project told Bloomberg’s Rich Miller.” 

“US consumers near day of reckoning as pandemic cash stash shrinks” 

Bloomberg, by Rich Miller 

August 19, 2023 

“So far at least, such signs of distress are not cause for alarm, according to Edelberg and Goulas of Brookings. But if financially strapped households rack up more debt, that would be more of a concern, they said in a report this month. ‘We are a bit worried about households if they continue spending as much as they are right now relative to their income,’ Goulas said in an interview. ‘But with the economy doing well overall in terms of job growth, it’s unclear whether we will see a recession.’” 

“What no landing looks like to a Treasury bond investor” 

Bloomberg, Edward Harrison 

August 8, 2023 

“Quote of the week: ‘If households were to sustain their current spending trends and increasingly finance spending with borrowing, financial health could deteriorate in a worrying way’ — Wendy Edelberg and Sofoklis Goulas, Hamilton Project” 

“Americans spending set to slow as income dips below 2019 trend” 

Bloomberg, by Alexandre Tanzi and Michael Sasso  

August 2, 2023 

“Real income growth has slowed to levels below the pre-pandemic trend, according to the report published Tuesday by Wendy Edelberg, director of the Hamilton Project, and Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at the Brookings-led think tank.” 

“The Terrible Truth: Current Solutions to COVID Learning Loss Are Doomed to Fail”, The74 Million, April 2023


“Student autonomy and academic performance”, VoxEU, August 2021

“Being able to skip classes improves some students’ performance. Others struggle with more autonomy”, The Conversation, August 2021

“Charters are among Idaho’s highest — and lowest — performing schools”, Devin Dodkin, Idaho Ed News, August 2021

“Resetting work and learning after COVID-19”, Ed NC, May 2021

“Learning Loss Is Just Educational Halitosis”, Peter Greene, Forbes, March 2021

“The Long-Term Economic Costs of Lost Schooling”, Jon Hilsenrath, The Wall Street Journal, February 2021

“Learning loss in California: New analysis digs into how students — particularly English learners — are falling behind during the pandemic”, LA School Report, February 2021

“Vaccine reward – a potential way out of the pandemic”, DerStandard, January 2021

“Students face learning loss as coronavirus disrupts school year”, CBS News, December 2020

“School Attendance During a Pandemic”, VoxEU, August 2020

“Students in Washington’s charter schools and public schools learn at similar rates, Stanford report finds”, The Seattle Times, August 2020

“Sex, Drugs and Economics: More on comparative advantage and the gender gap in STEM”, Professor Michael Cameron’s Blog, June 2020

“Girls score the same in math and science as boys, but higher in arts – this may be why they are less likely to pick STEM careers”, The Conversation, June 2020

“The effects of exam scheduling on academic performance”, VoxEU, January 2020

“Statehouse roundup, 1.31.19: Study illustrates highs and lows in charter performance”, Kevin Richert, Idaho Ed News, January 2019

“Promising’ learning results for state charter schools, study shows, but Tacoma lagging”, Allison Needles, Tacoma News Tribune, January 2019

“Ed Reformers Rejoice: New CREDO Report Shows Student Progress in New Orleans Has Continued”, Emily Langhorne, Forbes, May 2019

“Gender peer effects and performance in STEM”, ESOS.gr (in Greek), May 2019

“Albert Camus, the Plague, and the Crisis in Greece (in Greek)”, LiFO (in Greek), September 2015

“Job prospects drive college major preferences amidst Crisis”, Kathimerini Daily Newspaper (in Greek), August 2015

“The crisis changed (students’) preferences” , Ethnos Daily Newspaper  (in Greek), August 2015

“How young Greeks changed their degree choices as the economy crashed”, The Conversation, August 2015

“Financial Crisis and Study Choice (in Greek)”, Capital.gr (in Greek), August 2015

Data Collection

School Transcripts and College Admission Data:

Since 2011, my colleague Rigissa Megalokonomou and I have combined forces in collecting new and original data on education in Greece. We have spent a lot of time and effort visiting schools, conducting interviews, and collecting novel data. So far we have created two novel and unique datasets:

(1) Data on university entrance exam scores, university admission and college major

We have collected cross-sectional data on university entrance exam performance, university of admission, self-reported college major preferences and actual college major for the universe of high school graduates in Greece between 2003 and 2011.

(2) School transcript data on demographics, school performance, class attendance and class composition.

Our data follows a randomly selected sample of high school students in Greece over the last three grades of secondary education. Our data span ten cohorts between 2001 and 2011 and almost 150 schools. We have visited schools in large cities as well as in isolated islands and we are happy to have gotten our hands dirty in the collection of primary data.

School Attendance Data:

I collected secondary high-frequency data on school attendance and truancy from schools in Athens, Greece to study school attendance during a pandemic (H1N1) and peer effects of non-cognitive peer characteristics (proxied via truancy & disruptiveness). The data cover the school years between 2000 and 2015.

College Application Data:

I obtained detailed college application and admission data on every college applicant in Greece between 2014-15 and 2021-22. The data include detailed student performance information at school and national exams. These data will allow me to study risk aversion behaviors in college applications across the performance distribution.

Randomized control trial to study peer effects

I dive deeper into the mechanisms behind the peer effects I identify in hand-collected administrative data using survey-based randomized control trials (RCT) in five schools in Greece. These randomized trials allow me to study the behavioral impact of peers who serve as role models.

AEA RCT pre-registration: 0009955

Associated projects:
(1) “Same-gender Peer Role Models in Education” with Bhagya Gunawardena (RMIT), Rigissa Megalokonomou (Monash), and Yves Zenou (Monash), CEPR DP No. 19432, Submitted

Best Paper Award, 36th PhD Conference in Economics and Business, University of Western Australia, 2022

(2) “The Impact of Being Recognized as Top Performer on School and Career Outcomes” with Won Fy Lee (Stanford) and Rigissa Megalokonomou (Monash), analysis in progress

Randomized control trial to study teacher biases

In collaboration with Rigissa Megalokonomou (Monash) and Panos Sotirakopoulos (Curtin), we designed and disseminated an online randomized controlled trial (RCT) to teachers across Greece. This RCT provides us with exogenous variation to analyze the impacts of teachers’ perceptions towards excelling students of different genders and in different areas of study (STEM and non-STEM) and their potential implications on students’perceived performance in STEM subjects and aspirations towards STEM careers. These gendered perceptions may have important implications on students’ performance in high stakes examinations, effort, motivation, and aspirations to pursue a STEM degree and career. Expected outcomes include a new understanding of the contribution of teacher attitudes to gender differences in STEM, which can inform government policy, and teacher training and practice, facilitating more equal representation of females in STEM study and workforce.

Associated project:

“Female Top Performers are more Impactful Role Models than Males, Teachers Say” with Panos Sotirakopoulos (Curtin) and Rigissa Megalokonomou (Monash), Reject and Resubmit in Proceeding of the National Academy of Science

Randomized correspondence experiment to measure preference for remote work

This study explores the in-person wage premium among tutors, hypothesizing that tutors charge higher rates for in-person services compared to online services. Utilizing a correspondence audit study, the research targets tutors advertising on an online platform. Close to 5,000 tutors advertise their services through this platform. Many tutors offer both in-person and online lessons. In this correspondence audit study, tutors will receive emails from fictitious parents inquiring about the price and availability of tutoring lessons for their child. The targeted population comprises professional tutors who teach languages or secondary education subjects (mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology). Key outcomes include callback rates and quoted hourly rates. The study employs a randomized design with robust controls for potential confounders, such as education level and experience. Data collection involves web scraping, and results will be analyzed to assess the impact of service type on tutor responses and rates, providing insights into market dynamics and pricing strategies.

RCT completed.

AEA RCT pre-registration (with pre-analysis plan): 0013801

Lab-in-the-field experiment to study student perceptions of human versus artificial intelligence recommendation systems in college applications 

With Faidra Monachou (Yale) and Hemanshu Das (Yale)

The study involves a survey of high school students, administered at their schools during regular school hours. The questionnaire presented different scenarios involving hypothetical students applying to college, their initial college portfolio choices, and the recommendations given to them by either a human or algorithmic recommender. Half of the subjects were randomly assigned a ‘human recommender’ questionnaire, while the other half will receive an ‘algorithmic recommender’ questionnaire. The study aims to (1) measure differences in students’ perceptions of college application recommendations when these are provided by a human counselor vs. an algorithm, and (2) identify the mechanisms that drive students’ perceptions of such recommendations.

RCT completed.

AEA RCT pre-registration (with pre-analysis plan): 0014368

Participation:
  • Panelist discussing the economics of the American dream, Cecil College, March 2024
  • Mentoring Session with the PADE (Promoting Achievement and Diversity in Economics) initiative of the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland, Brookings Institution, March 2024
  •  Research Reception with the Sadie Collective, Brookings Institution, February 2024
  •  Research Reception with the MARCH (Morehouse Advocacy Reaching Capitol Hill) program of the Morehouse College, Brookings Institution, November 2023
  • Mentoring Reception with students in UChicago’s Expanding Diversity in Economics program, Brookings Institution, June 2024 Friedman Institute
Get in Touch
  • Email: sofoklis.goulas[at]gmail[dot]com