Lesley J. Turner is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Her research broadly considers the roles that government should play in providing, financing, and regulating education. Recent work examines how the incentives built into the current structure of the financing of higher education affects students and colleges, and the implications these responses have for students’ educational attainment, labor market outcomes, and financial wellbeing. She served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary and Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Education in 2022 and as an education fellow in the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in 2018-19.

Prior to joining the University of Chicago, Dr. Turner was an Associate Professor of Economics at Vanderbilt University and Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. She holds a joint B.A./M.P.P. program from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University.