An economist specializing in education, Dr. Long studies the transition from high school to higher education and beyond.  Her work focuses on college access and choice, factors that influence student outcomes, and the behavior of postsecondary institutions. Past projects examine the effects of financial aid programs, the impact of postsecondary remediation on degree completion, and the influence of class size and faculty characteristics on student persistence. Current projects include an aid simplification experiment, analysis of the growing gender gap in college enrollment, examination of institutional admissions policies, and continued research on the impact of financial aid.

Dr. Long received her Ph.D. and M.A. from the Harvard University Department of Economics and her A.B. from Princeton University. She is a Faculty Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Research Affiliate of the National Center for Postsecondary Research (NCPR). She has also served as a Visiting Scholar with the New England Public Policy Center at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank.  She received the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship and has been awarded numerous research grants from organizations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, National Science Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, and the Ford Foundation.  In July 2005, the Chronicle of Higher Education featured her as one of the "New Voices" in higher education, and in 2008,  National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) awarded her the Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award for excellence in research and published works on student financial assistance.