Education

Yulissa Chávez, Barbara Jordan National Forum student chair

Empowering Change: Yulissa Chávez's Journey in Public Affairs and Education Reform

Feb. 13, 2024

Yulissa Chávez is a Master of Public Affairs candidate from Galveston, Texas with a passion for education reform. One of three student chairs for this year's Barbara Jordan National Forum, Yulissa completed her undergraduate degree in Government from The University of Texas at Austin.

Headshot of Steven Santoyo with burnt orange branding

Student Spotlight: Steven Santoyo (MPAff)

Nov. 2, 2023

In an inspiring journey from the classroom to the policy arena, Steven Santoyo, who is from Dallas, is pursuing a Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School, with a focus on K-12 education policy. Having previously taught and earned a Master of Education from Southern Methodist University, Steven brings a wealth of experience and dedication to making a positive impact on our education system.

NASPAA 2023

Leading voices at NASPAA: the LBJ School champions public service education in Pittsburgh

Oct. 10, 2023

The LBJ School is a proud supporter of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration’s annual conference, taking place this year in Pittsburg from October 11-13. Leaders from the LBJ School, alongside public policy school peers, will explore the role of public service education in today’s environment during panels, discussions and more.

new_2023_faculty_group_1600x864

Leading the Way: LBJ School welcomes new faculty to shape tomorrow's leaders

Aug. 18, 2023

The LBJ School announced nine exceptional new faculty appointments for 2023-24. With expertise ranging from data science and law to global geopolitics and health policy, this latest cohort represents the newest boost of human capital at LBJ to explore critical questions related to national and international governance.

Cynthia Osborne named Vice President of APPAM's governing board

Feb. 1, 2021
Austin, TEXAS—Cynthia Osborne, the associate dean for academic strategies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University

LBJ's Treisman receives James Bryant Conant Award from Education Commission of the States

Nov. 16, 2020
Treisman's work has helped UT Austin reach its goal of boosting four-year graduation rates from 52% to 70%

LBJ School at UT COVID-19 Conference

Nov. 10, 2020
The pandemic has presented us with some of the biggest problems of our generation, and scientists, data analysts, disease modelers, communicators and humanists are working overtime to understand an

LBJ School of Public Affairs generates new educational strategies for the online era

Aug. 19, 2020
UT Austin's public policy school gets online learning right

Does more education cause lower BMI, or do lower-BMI individuals become more educated?

Article, Refereed Journal
Social Science & Medicine

More educated adults have lower average body mass index (BMI). This may be due to selection, if adolescents with lower BMI attain higher levels of education, or it may be due to causation, if higher educational attainment reduces BMI gain in adulthood. We test for selection and causation in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, which has followed a representative US cohort from age 14–22 in 1979 through age 47–55 in 2012. Using ordinal logistic regression, we test the selection hypothesis that overweight and obese adolescents were less likely to earn high school diplomas and bachelor's degrees. Then, controlling for selection with individual fixed effects, we estimate the causal effect of degree completion on BMI and obesity status. Among 18-year-old women, but not among men, being overweight or obese predicts lower odds of attaining higher levels of education. At age 47–48, higher education is associated with lower BMI, but 70–90% of the association is due to selection. Net of selection, a bachelor's degree predicts less than a 1 kg reduction in body weight, and a high school credential does not reduce BMI.

Research Topic
Education
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