Post by Dartmouth College

Our undergrads don't just study public policy. They research it, write it, and present it to lawmakers—for free. https://bit.ly/3QyBgly New Hampshire and Vermont governments run on part-time citizen legislators who don’t have dedicated research staff. For 20 years, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth’s Policy Research Shop has filled that gap with undergraduate researchers. Every year, students take on real policy questions and present their findings directly to legislators. This term, a team of three students interviewed 22 child care providers, compared quality programs across four states, and presented recommendations to N.H. lawmakers at the Statehouse in Concord. Their finding: 26% of children in the state lack access to formal child care, which means parents and caregivers lose work time, costing New Hampshire up to $1 billion in economic growth. "I tell my students to check our biases at the door," says Policy Research Shop director Kristin Smith. "The policymakers really appreciate that the research is grounded in the issues and the facts and the findings, rather than the politics of the day."