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Center for Policy Research News

Yingyi Ma Quoted in NY Times Article on Challenges Faced by International Students Under Trump

“The reality is that China’s best and the brightest are not coming but leaving,” says Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology. 

January 20, 2026

Walking the Land With Property Owners

Tom A Langen, Catherine Benson, Rick Welsh

The article, written by Professor of Sociology Rick Welsh, was published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

January 20, 2026

Colleen Heflin Examines Impact of Changes to Virginia’s Child Care Subsidy Program

The Maxwell professor and fellow researchers are supported by the University of Wisconsin and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

January 15, 2026

Badi Baltagi Named 2025 Great Arab Minds Award Laureate in Economics

Often described as the “Arab Nobel,” the award honors exceptional Arab scholars, scientists and thinkers whose work advances knowledge and benefits humanity.

January 13, 2026

See related: Awards & Honors

Heflin Discusses Food Insecurity on WCNY’S ‘CONNECT NY’

“I think it's important to note that while poverty is a really significant risk factor for food insecurity, there are more people that live above the poverty line, actually, who are food insecure. It is the working poor. It's people that actually earn too much to potentially qualify for SNAP,” says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs. 

January 9, 2026

Strengthening Snap’s Ability to Address Old Age Food Insecurity

Colleen Heflin, Madonna Harrington Meyer,

The article, published in Contexts, was co-authored by Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs, and University Professor Madonna Harrington Meyer. 

January 5, 2026

Harrington Meyer Discusses What’s Driving the Rise in Grandparent Childcare on WBUR's ‘On Point’

If parents had more guaranteed welfare state program available to them, “it would be easier for them to juggle jobs and children and they might not need to rely on grandparents quite as extensively,” says University Professor Madonna Harrington Meyer.

December 19, 2025

Minkoff-Zern Speaks With Vermont Public About Her Book ‘Will Work for Food’

“So many small farmers across Vermont and New York and elsewhere, are competing in a really unequal, unfair system. You have this structure where the vast majority of the food dollar—the money we pay for the food—is not going to the farm, the farm level, at all. So small-scale farmers are really struggling today, not just the workers but the farmers and the farm owners,” says Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, associate professor of geography and the environment.

December 17, 2025

Monnat Discusses Six Myths About Rural America in The Conversation Article

Rural communities are far more varied than people understand them to be, says Professor of Sociology Shannon Monnat and her co-author. “Getting these facts right matters because public debates, policies and resource—including money for programs—often rely on these assumptions, and misunderstandings can leave real needs neglected.”

December 12, 2025

See related: Rural Issues, United States

Can Schools Sustain the Rising Cost of Retiree Health Care?

Robert Bifulco and Iuliia Shybalkina
New York State school districts face mounting budget pressures from retiree health care benefits. Without policy changes, these costs could grow from 4.5 percent of district revenues today to over 13 percent by 2075, creating significant budget pressures for districts. 
December 10, 2025

See related: United States

Public Health: A Vital Addition to Maxwell

The department’s transition from Falk College fuels collaboration across disciplines, strengthens research centers, and establishes a hub for population and public health sciences.

December 5, 2025

Monnat Featured in Newsweek Article on Rural America’s Optimism About the Country’s Future

Rural communities have “leaned increasingly conservative” for several decades, and support for Trump is “especially strong” among these communities, which could mean they feel the country's leadership reflects their priorities, particularly on cultural and social issues, says Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair in Public Health Promotion and Population Health.

November 26, 2025

Yingyi Ma Speaks with South China Morning Post on Drop in Number of Chinese Students in the US

Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology, said several factors could be behind the trend showing a drop in the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S., beyond the anxiety over changes in U.S. policies, including the rise of “intra-Asia migration” with more students studying in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

November 20, 2025

Student Alienation in Schools Goes Beyond Low Achievement

Sean J. Drake and Jeffrey Guhin
This brief summarizes findings from a study drawing on over two years of ethnographic fieldwork in two different high schools in Los Angeles, California. The authors identify four types of alienation students experience: feeling like they don't belong, being in schools that can't support their goals, pursuing futures schools don't recognize, and succeeding in someone else's story.
November 19, 2025

See related: United States

Public School Districts Should Close Their ‘Alternative’ and ‘Continuation’ High Schools

Sean J. Drake

“Alternative” high schools are meant to help struggling students catch up on credits, but they often function as dumping grounds that perpetuate inequality. 

November 5, 2025

See related: United States

Heflin Discusses SNAP Funding With ABC News, Newsweek, PolitiFact and USA Today

“The stress that families are facing throughout the country is tremendous, not knowing how they’re going to feed their families,” says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs.

November 4, 2025

Suicide Deaths Among Informal Caregivers in an Aging Society

Michiko Ueda-Ballmer

The study, authored by Michiko Ueda-Ballmer, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, was published in Public Health.

November 3, 2025

The Achievement Narrative and Alienation in School: A Typology of Academic Disconnection

Sean J. Drake, Jeffrey Guhi

The study, co-authored by Assistant Professor of Sociology Sean Drake, was published in Sociology of Education.

October 30, 2025

Why Aren’t More People Calling 988 for Mental Health Crises?

Michiko Ueda, Colleen M. Heflin, Yanhong Liu, Qingyi Yu, and Seethalakshmi Ramanathan
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline launched in 2022 is a free, confidential alternative, yet awareness remains low and misconceptions persist. This brief summarizes findings from a study that surveyed nearly 1,900 U.S. adults and found that only 22% knew about 988. Even more striking: nearly 9 in 10 people had concerns about using it, and many of those concerns are based on misconceptions.
October 29, 2025

See related: United States

Lourie Lecture Features Dr. Hassan Tetteh

The 37th annual Herbert Lourie Memorial Lecture on Health Policy on Oct. 16, 2025, featured Dr. hassan Tetteh for a talk titled “AI Will Change Everything Except What Matters Most.” 

October 28, 2025

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CPR Seminar Series: Elizabeth Linos

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Elizabeth Linos (UC Berkeley) will present, "It's Not Your Fault: Reducing Stigma," as part of the CPR Seminar Series. For more information please contact Emily Minnoe at erminnoe@syr.edu


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