UW–Madison graduate students Xinyu Guan and Ghipsel Cibrian López, both pursuing doctoral degrees in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, have been selected as EdFund State School Finance Fellows.

The State School Finance Fellowship is a highly selective, cohort-based program for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars interested in the intersection of education finance research and policy. Through virtual workshops, in-person convenings, and engagement with leading researchers, policymakers, advocates, and journalists, fellows gain the knowledge and skills needed to connect rigorous research with real-world decision-making.

Participants join a national community of emerging scholars while exploring topics such as school funding systems, policy reform, data analysis, and research communication.

Guan will join the Fall 2026 cohort. Her research focuses on K-12 school finance, resource allocation, and state-level education policy, aligning closely with the fellowship’s mission of strengthening connections between rigorous research and the funding decisions that shape educational opportunities for students across the country.

López, who will join the Winter 2027 cohort, examines the ways policy, organizations, and resource distribution influence educational opportunities. Through the fellowship, she looks forward to further developing her research agenda and exploring questions related to economic, political, and social change within and across school districts.

Selection for the fellowship places Guan and López among a small, distinguished group of emerging scholars recognized for the strength of their research and its potential to inform real-world education finance policy.