Urban Institute Fellow Robert Lerman Honored with the 2024 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education

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WASHINGTON, DC, September 17, 2024 - The Urban Institute announced today that Institute Fellow Robert Lerman was selected as a 2024 recipient of the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education in the lifelong learning category. The prestigious award, bestowed by the McGraw Family Foundation in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE), recognizes Lerman for his visionary leadership and trailblazing work that has transformed lives and reshaped learning across generations.

For more than 40 years, the McGraw Prize has championed leaders who have profoundly impacted the world, so that others might follow their example. Prizes are awarded in three categories: pre-K-12 learning, higher education, and lifelong learning. This year's winners will receive an award of $50,000 at a ceremony on November 13.

Lerman, a distinguished economist and pioneering educator, is helping to transform the pathways through which people acquire essential job-related skills and enter rewarding careers. As an institute fellow at the Urban Institute, a professor of economics at American University, and co-founder of Apprenticeships for America, Lerman has been a tireless advocate for "earn, produce, and learn" apprenticeship-based alternatives to traditional college education. His work has been guided by the belief that a conventional, one-size-fits-all approach limits opportunities for many Americans and places the US at a competitive disadvantage. By documenting the high returns to apprenticeships for workers and employers and by highlighting successful apprenticeship systems in other countries, Lerman has informed federal and state policymakers, workforce professionals, and researchers. His efforts have led to significant policy changes, including California's implementation of formula-based funding for apprenticeship programs.

"I am pleased to join my Urban Institute colleagues in congratulating Bob Lerman for receiving this well-deserved honor," said Sarah Rosen Wartell, Urban Institute president. "No one has done more to build the evidence base about apprenticeships or has been a more forceful advocate for their power to create life altering opportunities for America's young people and workers. I applaud Bob's commitment to making an impact. And I know he won't stop-he will seize this moment to continue inspiring change."

The McGraw Prize awardees were submitted for consideration by their peers through a public nomination process, and winners were then selected after three rounds of judging, including a final round by an independent panel of esteemed leaders in the field. Past winners have included teachers, professors, superintendents, university presidents, nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs, and public officials. Many awardees continue to play major roles across the education landscape.

For more information about the prize, visit McGrawPrize.com.

About the Urban Institute

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. We are a trusted source for changemakers who seek to strengthen decisionmaking, create inclusive economic growth, and improve the well-being of families and communities. For more than 50 years, Urban has delivered facts that inspire solutions-and this remains our charge today.