By Tali Griffin
December 5, 2026 — From the University’s founding, William Rainey Harper, UChicago’s inaugural president, insisted that the University must engage with the world. In the fall of 1890, Harper wrote to John D. Rockefeller, “I have a plan which is at the same time unique and comprehensive, which I am persuaded will revolutionize university study in this country.”
This plan rested on three pillars: (1) the “University Proper,” emphasizing research and the advancement of knowledge; (2) the “University-Extension Work,” a broad liberal arts program designed for the public; and (3) the “University Publication Work,” which became the University press.
Harper insisted that the University-Extension Work must be both popular and of a high academic standard — science centered, university-directed, and taught by the most knowledgeable experts.
A direct line can be drawn from Harper’s vision of University-Extension Work to today’s Economics for Everyone initiative. The initiative aims to cultivate a broader public understanding of the contemporary world through core principles of economics. Through evolving and emerging approaches in both education and media, E4E makes the transformative insights of UChicago economic thinking available to a wide and diverse audience, including lifelong learners, professionals seeking development, educators, and university and high school students.
Conceived in the UChicago Classroom
The Economics for Everyone initiative grew out of the popular UChicago E4E undergraduate classes. When developing the curriculum, UChicago professors asked themselves: if students only take one economics course, what should they learn? Whether in E4E Micro or E4E Macro, students learn key economic concepts that help them understand how economics shapes society’s biggest challenges, make better decisions, disagree more thoughtfully, and think like economists.
Centered in Science
E4E makes the best of UChicago economics available to everyone, including the revolutionary economic ideas developed by UChicago faculty like monetary policy, human capital theory, price theory, and behavioral economics — just to name a few. Historical case studies and current research are woven throughout our videos, lesson plans, and resources.
Connected to Intellectual Curiosity
The E4E approach is built upon the University’s tradition of intellectual curiosity. Problem sets in traditional Principles of Economics courses can create the impression that there is always a right or wrong answer. The E4E approach asks students to engage deeply with foundational economic ideas to better analyze the economic forces around them — the constraints, incentives, and trade-offs that shape personal decisions and society.
Connected to the Vision of the University Today
Harper’s vision of the university, over 125 years old, remains a guiding light. As University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos shared in his inaugural address:
We have the opportunity now to build upon the 13 decades of the amazing work of this University in the pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of human life, by reconceptualizing the ways in which we can become a more engaged institution, not separated from society, but advisedly interconnected with it…To carry this vision of an engaged University further, we will need to continue to find new ways of doing things, while holding fast to the distinctive academic style and core values that make us who we are.
E4E is a proud part of this legacy. Developing new learning tools and engaging resources for students of all ages, we aim to scale economic education for the public, rooted in the University’s distinct tradition of academic rigor and intellectual curiosity.