From the Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown University

Equity Is an Economic Imperative

By Jeff Strohl, Director (June 30, 2026)

"For decades, traditional public finance has held that equity and efficiency are zero sum—that more of one means less of the other. According to this logic, allocating public resources requires hard choices: By sharing resources equitably, we create inefficiencies that reduce the total number of resources. But what if investments in equity actually result in more resources? Our recent work at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) suggests that when we invest in postsecondary equity, we are not pouring society’s resources into a “leaky bucket.” Instead, we are making a smart investment in our country’s financial health with demonstrable financial returns."

Read the complete blog post on the Center website