Edunomics

What Edunomics does

Edunomics Lab is a university-based, non-partisan research center established in 2012 within Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. The center is dedicated to K-12 education finance research, building data infrastructure and analytical frameworks that bring transparency to how public K-12 dollars flow from federal, state, and district budgets into schools and classrooms.

Its core products are a suite of freely accessible interactive data tools. NERD$ (National Education Resource Database on Schools) is the first-ever national dataset capturing year-over-year school-by-school public K-12 spending (FY2018-FY2023). The ESSER Expenditure Dashboard tracks actual federal COVID-relief spending across approximately 14,000 districts. WANDA is a K-12 workforce data tool for staffing-pattern analysis, joined by ROI Over Time, Scatterplots (Spending vs Outcomes), Special Education Spending Profiles, and Staffing & Enrollment Trends. Adjacent calculators and worksheets (The Grid, Smart Contracting Coversheet, Budgeting for Math Interventions, PD Calculator, State Formula Decision Tree) support budgeting, contracting, and policy design.

The business model is hybrid: (1) foundation and government grants from Gates, Walton, Chan Zuckerberg, Dell, Kellogg, Arnold, Broad, Barr, and IES fund ongoing research and tool development; (2) the Certificate in Education Finance program and 30-minute webinar series generate professional services revenue, with some organizations paying registration or tuition exceeding $10,000. Customers are exclusively in the public K-12 sector — State Education Agencies, school districts, school boards, federal and state policymakers, and education leaders — rather than corporate buyers. Distribution is content-led via the website, Vimeo on-demand webinars, monthly newsletters, and op-eds in Brookings, Education Next, The 74, EdSource, Forbes, and the ASBO School Business Insider podcast. The team is small (Director Marguerite Roza, Associate Director Laura Anderson, Research Fellow Maggie Cicco, Data Scientist Aditi Bhardwaj, plus team members such as Mena Tetali).

Name

Edunomics

Legal name

Edunomics Lab

Website

https://edunomicslab.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Edunomics Lab, a Georgetown University McCourt School research center founded in 2012, builds free K-12 education-finance data tools (NERD$, ESSER Dashboard, WANDA) and training programs for state education agencies, districts, and policymakers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Finance Research & Analytics

NAICS

Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Learning Data Infrastructure & Interoperability (LRS, xAPI/LTI/OneRoster, Data Pipelines) (EDAFAFAJ)

Keywords

• K-12 education finance
• Education spending data
• School finance research
• Fiscal analysis tools
• Education policy analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Training and Certification Programs: Edunomics Lab generates revenue through the Certificate in Education Finance program offered at Georgetown University, including registration fees and tuition for the 2027 cohort (Feb. 24-25 in Washington, DC). Some entities pay registration fees exceeding $10,000 for trainings, workshops, or certification programs.
2. Research Grants and Funding: The center receives funding from a range of public and private sources including foundations, government agencies, and education organizations. Funding supports work on equitable distribution of public resources, financial fluency, and transparency.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Edunomics Lab is a university-based research center that develops freely accessible interactive data tools, dashboards, and analytical frameworks for K-12 education finance. It complements these tools with paid training programs (notably the Certificate in Education Finance cohort sessions in Washington, DC), a recurring 30-minute webinar series, monthly newsletters, and custom technical assistance for state education agencies and school districts. Its offerings trace federal, state, and district fiscal policy effects to school- and classroom-level resource decisions.

Product overview

Edunomics Lab operates as a research center offering a suite of data tools and analytical resources focused on K-12 education finance. The core product portfolio centers on NERD$, the first national school-by-school spending database, and the ESSER Expenditure Dashboard tracking federal relief spending. The platform includes analytical tools for ROI analysis (ROI Over Time, Scatterplots: Spending v Outcomes), workforce analysis (WANDA K-12 Workforce Data Tool, Staffing & Enrollment Trends), and specialized spending profiles (Special Education Spending Profiles). Supporting these are budget planning tools including The Grid investment assessment worksheet, Smart Contracting Coversheet, Budgeting for Math Interventions calculator, and Costing Out PD calculator. Additional resources include the State Formula Decision Tree for policymakers, Ed Finance-Related Datasets compilation, Resource Allocation Reviews guidance, and the Financial Analysis of ESA/Voucher/Tax Scholarship flows. The center complements its tools with services including a Certificate in Education Finance program, monthly newsletters, and a series of 30-Minute Webinars addressing emerging education finance topics. All resources are designed to help policymakers and education leaders make evidence-based resource decisions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NERD$ (National Education Resource Database on Schools) First-ever national dataset providing year-over-year public K-12 school-by-school spending data for research and comparisons, covering FY2018-FY2023. Designed for researchers, education leaders, advocates, and journalists to bring transparency to how funds are used.
• ESSER Expenditure Dashboard Interactive dashboard tracking school districts' ESSER 3 federal relief expenditures, allowing users to view spending by district or download a state's data.
• WANDA (K-12 Workforce Data Tool) K-12 workforce data tool showing staffing patterns in states and districts to help leaders examine workforce composition and inform restructuring efforts.
• ROI Over Time Interactive analysis combining spending data with reading and math score data by state, showing which states have been more or less successful at making money matter for students.
• Scatterplots: Spending v Outcomes Interactive data visualizations comparing student outcomes and spending by similarly situated schools to identify which schools beat the odds relative to dollars spent.
• Staffing & Enrollment Trends Interactive tool comparing the number of staff to the number of students in selected states and showing how that has changed over time, with a downloadable template for custom analysis.
• Special Education Spending Profiles State-by-state profiles examining trends in special education identification, staffing, and outcomes, with downloadable state-specific reports comparing how different systems serve students with disabilities.
• Certificate in Education Finance Certificate program equipping participants with practical skills in strategic fiscal management, finance policy analysis, and financial leadership. 2027 cohort scheduled for February 24-25 in Washington, DC; some organizations pay registration fees exceeding $10,000.
• 30-Minute Webinars Recurring series of 30-minute interactive webinars helping states and districts navigate the changing education finance landscape through emerging data, trend analysis, and fiscal forecasts. Recordings freely available on Vimeo.
• SEA-led Resource Allocation Reviews Guide Step-by-step guidance and templates for State Education Agencies to conduct Resource Allocation Reviews in districts serving low-performing schools, supporting compliance with federal equity requirements.

Quantifiable outcome

• NERD$ and other data tools have been used extensively across the field by researchers, education leaders, advocates, and journalists to bring transparency to how funds are used.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, significant and notable.

• Georgetown University - McCourt School of Public PolicycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdunomics Lab is established as a university-based research center within Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. The center operates as an integral part of the university, with Director Marguerite Roza serving as a Research Professor at the school.
• National Comprehensive CentersignificantStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdunomics Lab partnered with the National Comprehensive Center to host webinars exploring how the end of ESSER funds may affect equity in education.
• Brookings InstitutionnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdunomics Lab publishes research through the Brookings Institution, including analysis on ESSER fiscal cliff implications and school board deliberations.
• AASA, The School Superintendents AssociationnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdunomics Lab collaborated with ASBO on the School Business Insider podcast and provides training resources for superintendents and school business officials.
• Education NextnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdunomics Lab publishes research and analysis through Education Next journal and magazine.
• The 74notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdunomics Lab contributes regular op-eds and analysis to The 74 news outlet, reaching education policy audiences.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• American Institutes for Research (AIR): Large nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization with deep K-12 evaluation, assessment, and policy research practices serving federal agencies, states, and districts. Operates as a broad incumbent with overlapping capabilities but at significantly greater scale.
• RAND Corporation: Large nonprofit research institute whose education division conducts policy analysis on K-12 finance, accountability, and resource allocation. Operates as a broad incumbent with overlapping education research capabilities but a much wider portfolio beyond Edunomics's finance focus.

Others

• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): Nonprofit association of state education agency chiefs that convenes and produces resources on state-level education finance and policy. Functions as an enabling ecosystem partner that shapes the same SEA buyer audience Edunomics serves.
• Brookings Institution (Education Policy program): Established public policy think tank whose Brown Center for Education Policy conducts K-12 finance and productivity research. Already a publication partner of Edunomics and an adjacent ecosystem player rather than a direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Urban Institute: Nonprofit research organization conducting economic and social policy research, including substantive work on K-12 education finance, equity, and district funding. Comparable research methodology and district/state customer base.
• WestEd: Nonpartisan, nonprofit research agency providing research, evaluation, and technical assistance across K-12 education, including finance and resource allocation. Comparable mix of federally and foundation-funded research serving state agencies and districts.
• Bellwether Education Partners: National nonprofit that conducts K-12 education research and provides strategic advising to funders, districts, and states, including work on education finance and resource allocation. Shares Edunomics's research-to-practice model and similar funder and policymaker audience.
• Education Resource Strategies (ERS): ERS was the closest direct competitor to Edunomics Lab, focused specifically on helping K-12 district leaders use resources more effectively through data analysis and strategic advising before merging into Transcend Education. Both organizations build resource allocation analytics for school districts and target the same CFO/superintendent buyer.
• Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE): Research organization focused on transforming public education through innovation, including work on district resource allocation, school finance, and equity. Smaller think tank with similar research-and-policy-advising model serving K-12 leaders.

Emerging players

• NWEA: Nonprofit research organization providing adaptive assessments and education data analytics to K-12 districts and states. Different primary focus (student outcomes vs. spending) but similar data infrastructure philosophy and district buyer audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/EdunomicsLab
• YouTubevimeo.com/edunomicslab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/edunomics-lab-at-georgetown-university

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Edunomics