Sarah Turner is a leading expert in labor economics and the economics of education, focusing on higher education and high-skill labor markets. Professor Turner investigates how higher educational opportunities and policies affect the labor market. She analyzes factors influencing college completion, access, and attendance, and she examines the behavioral impact of financial aid policies, including student aid, social insurance, and welfare. Professor Turner also writes extensively about academic labor markets and the role of international students and skilled workers in the U.S. economy.
Professor Turner has served as an expert witness in a breach of contract matter concerning a university’s switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. She testified on the complexities of determining the value of education students and why posted tuition prices are not a reliable measure of the value delivered. She also addressed how the alleged conduct had a varied impact across student class members.
In her recent research, Professor Turner has examined how student loan policies, including the pause in required payments and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, impact borrowers’ financial well-being and labor force outcomes. She is also studying the link between test scores, grades, and college admission outcomes. Another dimension of her research explores the globalization of postsecondary education, including international student flows and skilled migration through programs like the Conrad 30 Waiver for international physicians. In addition, she has examined how economic disruptions affect educational and labor market transitions, from the impact of mass layoffs on military enlistment to how minimum wage changes influence community college enrollment.
Professor Turner publishes extensively in leading academic journals, notably the Journal of Labor Economics (which she edited from 2012–2014), American Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the Journal of Human Resources, and Science. She has served on several editorial boards, including Education Finance and Policy and American Economic Review. Professor Turner is a faculty research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a research affiliate at the University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center.
With more than 25 years at UVA, Professor Turner teaches courses in labor economics and the economics of education. She has taught thousands of students in multiple schools and departments and chaired the department of economics from 2013 to 2016.
In 2024, Education Week’s RHSU Edu-Scholar Rankings named Professor Turner among the most influential education scholars in the United States. She was also awarded the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Faculty Prize in 2023 for her commitment to leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. She is appointed University Professor and holds the Souder Family Endowed Chair.