Jane Cooley Fruehwirth, Ph.D.
Interim Director
Dr. Jane Cooley Fruehwirth is the Interim Director of Carolina Demography at the Carolina Population Center at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Dr. Fruehwirth is an economist with research interests in the determinants of social, economic and racial inequality. She works on a variety of topics in the economics of education, including the effects of desegregation, grade retention, accountability, and other policies aimed at improving outcomes for traditionally disadvantaged youth. More recently, her research delves into the determinants of mental health in adolescents and college students.
She is also a Professor of Economics at UNC-Chapel Hill and a Research Associate of NBER’s Economics of Education Working Group, an affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty and the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group.
Fruehwirth received her PhD from Duke University in 2006. Before coming to UNC, she was an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin and a Reader (Associate Professor) at the University of Cambridge and fellow of Christ’s College.
Since 2010, there have been 149 closures of rural hospitals across the US. These closures have taken place in 34 of the 50 states. Eight of these closures took place in North Carolina. What is a rural hospital? The NC…
Last week, the U.S (United States). Census Bureau released 2023 county population estimates. These annual estimates tell us how county populations in North Carolina have changed over the course of a year: in this case, between July 1, 2022 and…
Deciding which educational pathway to pursue is often a daunting decision for a high schooler transitioning to postsecondary education. There are many questions a student must ask. Do I want to pursue a credential or a degree awarding program? What…
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