Public Finance Fellowship
The Center for State and Local Finance (CSLF) established the Public Finance Fellowship program to recognize and support students who have an interest in innovative, non-partisan state and local public finance research. The fellowship offers graduate students in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS) an opportunity to work on emerging state and local finance issues in tandem with nationally-ranked AYSPS faculty and CSLF senior research associates.
Fellows perform research, draft briefs and reports, participate in technical assistance projects and work with statistical programs. Projects coincide with CSLF’s research interests, including tax policy and reform, budgeting and financial management, education finance, and economic development and urban policy. Past fellows have assisted with—and served as the primary author on—research projects that have been published and presented at national conferences.
Additionally, fellows have the opportunity to participate in other projects housed under CSLF’s sister centers, the Fiscal Research Center and the International Center for Public Policy, and have access to CSLF’s premier executive education courses geared toward high-level, practical public administration skills.
Fellowship selections are made once a year in the spring, and CSLF offers all fellows a full tuition waiver and competitive stipend. CSLF fellows regularly obtain competitive positions after graduation, including those with:
- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
- Georgia Senate Budget and Evaluation Office
- Georgia Office of Planning and Budget
Other fellows have gone on to successful careers in local government, nonprofits, think tanks and the private sector.
Employment Opportunities
Graduate Fellowships
Incoming or current graduate students, particularly those in public policy or economics programs, with an interest in the Public Finance Fellowship should contact Alex Hathaway ([email protected]). In general, fellowships decisions are made in April/May for a fall semester start.
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
Occasionally, the Public Finance Research Cluster has research opportunities appropriate for undergraduate students. Those interested in gaining real-world public finance experience should reach out to Alex Hathaway at the email above.
Fellowship Trainings
CSLF offers a series of trainings that expose fellows to information, programs and skills they may not otherwise have the opportunity to learn. These trainings allow the fellows to interact with a variety of faculty, researchers, and administrative staff and gain exposure to a wide array of research areas and data skills.
In addition to general-concept trainings, such as Public Budgeting Concepts and an Introduction to Tax Policy, fellows also learn about:
Public Finance Fellow Publications
In addition to publishing research, our fellows can attend national academic and practitioner conferences to present research papers. CSLF fellows regularly participate in the annual conferences of the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA), the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM) and the National Tax Association (NTA).
At the 2023 ABFM conference, for instance, three public finance fellows presented research, and one fellow, Meghna Paul, won the Best Poster Presentation Award.
Current Public Finance Fellows and Graduate Assistants
For the 2024–25 academic year, CSLF has four Public Finance Fellows and a graduate training manager.
- Federico Corredor, PhD in Economics
- Meera Omar, PhD in Public Policy
- Meghna Paul, PhD in Public Policy
- Aidan Rickaby, MPA
- Qurrat ul Ain Rasheed, PhD in Education Policy Studies