Francisca Alba is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics at Michigan State University. She studies how the design of public policy shapes take-up of U.S. social programs—particularly those administered through the tax code—with the aim of improving the delivery of social services. Before joining the Ph.D. program at MSU, she conducted research in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She received a B.A. in economics and sociology from the University of Edinburgh and an M.P.P. from George Washington University.