Peter Bergman is an associate professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin. He was previously an assistant professor of economics and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He earned his PhD in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He earned his BA from the University of California, Berkeley.
His research focuses on field experiments designed to improve financial and educational outcomes for low-income families. Bergman’s research has involved field experiments providing translated text messages to families about their child’s academic progress, for which he won the Distinguished CESifo Affiliate Award. His current interests in higher education include studying the returns to STEM-related degrees, testing strategies to improve take-up of education-related tax-benefits, and assessing the effects of these benefits on student outcomes. He is also an affiliate of the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness (CAPR).
Previously, Bergman was an associate economist at RAND, an advisory board member to the Partnership of Los Angeles Schools, and a New York City Teaching Fellow as a middle school special education teacher.