The study of social and economic inequality is one of the cornerstones of the Harris School of Public Policy. The goal of this certificate is to introduce students to modern theories of inequality and the empirical study of those theories. Topics include early childhood sources of income inequality, discrimination in the labor market and in other institutions, segregation in housing markets, the impact of migration on the measurement of inequality, and the roles of peer effects.

Application Process

The certificate is open to any University of Chicago graduate student. Harris students please indicate your intent to pursue this certificate using the Harris Certificate Application Form. If you are a non-Harris student and intend to complete the requirements for the Social and Economic Inequality certificate please submit the Harris Certificate Application for Non-Harris Students to indicate you are pursuing this certificate.

Planning for the Certificate

For information on which quarter(s) each course will be offered, see the Harris Courses page and filter by certificate. For courses offered by other divisions, the typical quarter(s) offered has been indicated.

Certificate Requirements

The certificate requires completion of at least two courses from the “Required courses” list, along with two additional courses that come from either the “Required courses” list or the “Elective courses” list (four courses total). No course substitutions allowed.

Students must achieve at least a B- grade in each course.  No course may be taken on a pass/fail basis. The courses do not need to be taken in a particular order. Students should complete the formal signup process to indicate their intention to pursue the certificate.

Required Courses (at least two)

• PPHA 33240 Intergenerational Mobility: Theory, Methods and Evidence
• PPHA 41720 Discrimination in the Labor Market
• PPHA 33230 / ECON 34930 Inequality: Theory, Methods and Evidence (Spring)
• Not offered in 2022-2023
  • PPHA 40700 Early Childhood: Human Capital Development and Public Policy

Elective Courses

• PPHA 34241 Household Finance: Theory and Applications
• PPHA 35240 Education in Developing Contexts
• PPHA 37910 Race and Ethnic Differences in Health: Epidemiology, Behavior, and Policy
• PPHA 39404 Inequality, Household Finance, and Tax Policy
• PPHA 41740 Gender and Policy
• PPHA 60000 Policy Labs (with permission of the Certificate Director)
• ECON 24450 Inequality and the Social Safety Net: Theory, Empirics, and Policies (Spring)

Certificate Contact

Dan Black, Certificate Director

danblack@uchicago.edu