Mercatus Center Academic & Student Programs

07/06/2026

Americans can't afford healthcare. Go to college. Buy a home. But what's really behind it? You might think you know. Go to MillionDollarQuestion.org and take the quiz to enter for a chance to win $1,000,000 💵

Your shot at One Million Dollars Starts with one question. Take the Quiz https://youtube.com/shorts/n13V_Z89lh4 Why are we asking? Americans are working harder than ever and still can’t afford the basics. Housing, healthcare, education, and childcare; the costs keep climbing. Our goal To help Amer...

07/01/2026

07/01/2026

To the class of 2026,

Graduation isn’t the end of your intellectual journey, it’s the start of your independent scholarship. Carry the curiosity, rigor, and fearless inquiry you built here at Mercatus into everything that comes next.

Congratulations on this accomplishment! 🎉

06/12/2026

When Stone Washington started his PhD program at Clemson University, he knew something was missing from his economics classes. [...] Today, Stone credits the [Bastiat] fellowship with giving him the philosophical understanding and practical tools that transformed both his research approach and his career trajectory.

Bastiat Alum Stone Washington shares his Mercatus Fellowship Story. https://loom.ly/ZB7GOKQ

06/10/2026

On this episode, PhD Alum Emily Chamlee-Wright delivers a keynote lecture at the 2025 Markets & Society conference on the precarious state of liberalism and the cultural foundations necessary to sustain a free society.

🎧 Tune in to the Hayek Program Podcast

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Emily Chamlee-Wright delivers a keynote lecture at the 2025 Markets &

06/07/2026

Mercatus Undergraduate Scholars alum, Jaewon Park, has been selected by the George Mason University Department of Economics as the Spring 2026 Outstanding Undergraduate Student!

Each semester, George Mason University's academic departments nominate outstanding graduating seniors in recognition of their academic achievements, leadership, campus engagement, and contributions to their field of study.

Congratulations, Jaewon, on this well-deserved honor! We are proud to count you among our Mercatus Undergraduate Scholars alumni!

06/05/2026

Through the Frédéric Bastiat Fellowship and later the James Buchanan Fellowship, Alicia found the intellectual community and theoretical foundations that transformed her understanding of regulatory economics.

Today, as an associate professor at West Virginia University running a center and publishing on regulatory policy, Alicia credits those fellowships with building the network and knowledge base that launched her career, so much so that she now sends her own students to Mercatus fellowships every year.

Bastiat & Buchanan Alum Alicia Plemmons shares her Mercatus Fellowship Story. https://loom.ly/nXFgbBw

05/29/2026

Today, having just completed her PhD with dissertation research on Sundown Towns, examining how historical exclusion shaped long-term economic trajectories, Olivia credits the Bastiat Fellowship, particularly its research sequences, with helping her discover what kind of scholar she wanted to be.

Bastiat Alum Olivia Galloway shares her Mercatus Fellowship Story.
https://loom.ly/PqOiwN8

05/29/2026

Applications due tomorrow for the Fall 2026 Undergraduate Scholars Program or the 2026-2027 Graduate Scholars Program!

These competitive programs are open to George Mason University students of all disciplines who are interested in political economy. Throughout the program term, fellows read foundational and contemporary works in political economy and participate in regular discussion with other fellows, Mason faculty, and Hayek Program Scholars.

Apply Now!
🔗 https://loom.ly/UUu1CTI