Student Employment
2026 Student Opportunities
page updated 8/28/2026
The Lowe Institute of Political Economy invites students to apply for paid student analyst positions advancing research and reporting into economics and related fields of social science. Positions include the following:
The Lowe Institute sponsors quantitative research in economics, political science, history, psychology, and environmental studies, among other fields.
Research methodologies combine conceptual approaches learned in the classroom with data analysis and econometric testing. Students working at the Institute learn a variety of software packages, including STATA, R, Excel, Tableau, and ArcGIS. Research sponsored by the Institute is widely published, including in academic journals, newspapers, and conference presentations.
We take applications and match students to specific projects and faculty. Faculty submit proposals and have their projects approved. In some cases, these faculty already have an understanding with one or more students that they will work together. In other cases, the faculty member is looking for students. In these cases, the Lowe Institute selects and assigns those students best suited to the stated needs of the project.
The Lowe Institute hires through an application and interview process. All applicants should apply on Handshake.
Join Us!
CMC Engagement Fair | Friday, September 4, 2026 | 11-1 p.m. | Parents Field
Lowe Institute Info Session | Friday, September 4, 2026 | 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. | Bauer Founders
We will go over all student roles and expectations and answer any of your questions about working at the Lowe Institute. Refreshments will be served.
Applications Due on Handshake Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 by 11:59 p.m. (Handshake portal is live!)
About Our Student Analyst Roles
The following applies for all student analyst roles at the Lowe Institute of Political Economy:
- Duration: 1 year.
- Lowe student employees reapply each year, except those selected for leadership positions on the forecast team. New opportunities may arise mid-year, but this is not guaranteed. We plan to accept applications only in the fall.
- Positions are open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors from CMC and the other Claremont Colleges (Pomona College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, and Pitzer College).
- The Lowe Institute is an equal opportunity employer with no preference as to gender, ethnicity, sexuality, or political views. Applications will be judged solely on the expected ability of the applicant to perform the job as defined below.
- Skills with software and programming languages useful for data organization, analysis, and geo-mapping (e.g., Excel, Stata, R, Python, ArcGIS) are highly valued but not required for all roles.
- Completion of Econ 50 is required, and completion of Econ 120 is highly valued. (This criteria is for all student analyst positions except the Social Media Coordinator. However, understanding of and interest in economics is helpful for all positions.)
- Each role involves pursuing open-ended tasks for which the successful path is not obvious. Successful Lowe RAs demonstrate initiative, determination, and optimism to pursue leads with persistence until goals are met. Deadlines are important.
- Students are expected to seek guidance from supervising faculty and staff for successful completion of tasks.
- Students are expected to self-manage within teams, respect deadlines, communicate effectively with team members and supervising faculty and staff, and attend various Institute activities like the Welcome Back BBQ in September, What's UP Lowe in November, and other social/team-building activities throughout the year.
- Compensation: For AY 26-27, Lowe Student Analysts will be paid as follows:
- Incoming: $17/hour
- Returning: $18/hour
- Student Managers: $19/hour
- Students are expected to work 5 to 10 hours per week, as needed and depending on the position.
- The current CMC policy does not permit students to work more than 20 hours per week, cumulatively, across all jobs on campus.
Role Requirements & Details
Experimental Economics Research Assistant
Are you a Claremont Colleges student interested in gaining practical experience for the fields of business and economic research within a dynamic team environment? If so, you may be a perfect fit for the Lowe Institute Experimental Economics Lab (XLab) Research Assistant position!
Our team is hiring 2-4 RAs in the fall, who will join an existing group of eight RAs working under Professor Jeffrey Flory on the cutting edge of experimental economics. This field utilizes controlled economic experiments to answer pressing questions facing governments, nonprofits, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies, making it one of the fastest growing disciplines in the social sciences.
The XLab Team at CMC has a strong track record, which includes the administration of real-world laboratory experiments and collaboration with top economists and other social scientists at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and Washington University in St. Louis. After just one year, XLab members have secured prestigious internships at the Federal Reserve, Harvard Business School, Claremont McKenna’s Summer Research Program, a venture capital firm, and far more.
Qualifications:
- Completion of Econ 101 (Microeconomics) and Econ 120 (Statistics) or other college-level statistics course
- Enrollment in (or completion of) Econ 179 (Experimental Economics) is a plus, but not required
- Familiarity with coding languages (R, Stata, Python) is a plus but not required
- Collaborative attitude and experience working on teams
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- We expect to hire 2-4 XLab RAs
Applications are due Wednesday, September 9th at 11:59p.m.
Please submit your application through Handshake with a resume, unofficial transcript, and 2-3 paragraph letter of interest. Handshake job #11310397
Forecast Analysts
Forecast Analysts (FA) will work in a team with Lowe Institute Associate Director and CMC Professor Manfred Keil and leading student managers to generate macroeconomic forecasts for the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside counties). This involves collecting, organizing, and analyzing macroeconomic data, writing reports about cities in the Inland Empire, preparing slides and graphics, and completing other work to prepare the forecast book. The forecast will be produced quarterly, with two extensive forecast reports produced in early October and early March. Students will also work on monthly press releases and employment reports for the Inland Empire. Here is a link to examples of their work.
This role is a good fit for students who wish to work in a team, see statistics and forecasting in action, understand the economics of cities within a region, think about associated policy issues, and gain hands-on work experience in a professional environment. It is excellent preparation for jobs in many fields, including public policy, economic research, and data analysis. Several past FAs have gone on to work at the Federal Reserve.
The Forecast Team will be responsible for report writing and graph interpretation as described above. Forecast Team members are expected to interpret graphs and data tables as well as have basic Excel knowledge (e.g., pivot tables, basic transformations). Excellent writing and analytical skills are also needed for this position.
Qualifications:
- Forecast Team:
- Strong at reading, interpreting, and analyzing graphs/data tables; able to make economic inferences based on this data
- Basic Excel skills (graph creation and design, pivot tables, functions, basic transformations)
- Ability to adhere to established project deadlines
- We expect to hire 4-6 Forecast Analysts.
- Apply on Handshake job posting #11291784
Applications Due on Handshake Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 by 11:59 p.m.
Please submit your application through Handshake with a resume, unofficial transcript, and 1-page letter of interest.
Research Assistants
Research Assistants (RA) will work one-on-one with a professor on one of the professor’s research papers through the Lowe Faculty-Student Research Program. The professor will outline tasks for the RAs, which will likely include finding, generating, cleaning, and manipulating data, and might also include data analysis and generation of figures, tables, and graphs.
RAs will learn about the specific research project and the general process of research through regular discussions with the professor. The project will produce a research paper by the end of the year.
This role is a good fit for students interested in academia or data analysis. It affords the preferred opportunity to build a close relationship with a professor while developing the skills of data acquisition, organization, and analysis that are the foundation of entry-level data analyst positions. It also affords a close look at academic research and a potentially valuable letter of recommendation, should duties be performed with initiative and distinction.
Qualifications:
- Qualifications depend on the specific project.
- The ability to organize and manipulate data in R, Stata, or Python is often a plus.
- Proactive communication with faculty supervisor
- Strong attention to detail
- We expect to hire ~6 Research Assistants.
- Apply on Handshake job posting #11291766
Applications Due on Handshake Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 by 11:59 p.m.
Please submit your application through Handshake with a resume, unofficial transcript, and 1 page letter of interest.