Has Godot Arrived? An Update on the State of Economic Evaluation in Education Research

Economic evaluation has received increased attention recently with adoption by major research organizations such as the Institute of Education Sciences. We ask: Has the prevalence and quality of economic evaluation increased in education research considering its increased salience? We conducted a search of research published since 2007, analyzed the type and rigor of the cost estimates and patterns by field and subfield to map relative saturations and gaps in economic evaluations across fields, and noted variability in quality and policy impact. We find evidence of increase in number and rigor of cost studies, particularly in the areas of higher education and socioemotional learning. Nonetheless, there is still work to do as original empirical cost analyses remain relatively rare.