Dr. Maria Fitzpatrick

Biography

Maria Fitzpatrick is a professor of economics and public policy at Cornell University whose work sits at the intersection of health and education policy. Her research focuses on how public programs shape children’s well-being and long-run human capital. She studies school-embedded health services, including school-based mental health centers and evaluates their effects on outcomes like attendance, graduation rates, and emergency department use. Fitzpatrick links large administrative datasets (Medicaid claims, hospital encounters, and school records) to apply modern causal methods that generate actionable evidence for policymakers. Among her interests are examining policies that alter resource incentives in early childhood, K-12, and higher education systems, as well as child welfare reporting and teacher compensation reforms. She is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Brooks School of Public Policy and serves as the Codirector of the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Fitzpatrick is also an active Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research and has researched the efficiency and long-term effects of merit aid programs that influence post-secondary attendance. Her work critically emphasizes the importance of early childhood education in improving long-term academic achievement and family decision-making regarding childcare.

Research Interests