The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, a non-profit research institute affiliated with the Carroll School of Management, has received a five-year continuation grant, including a $2.4-million award for the initial year, from the U.S. Social Security Administration’s Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics.

Alicia Munnell

Alicia Munnell (Jared Leeds Photography)


“This major award from the Social Security Administration, which will provide critical core support for our center over the next five years, is a testament to our effectiveness at advancing the debate on retirement income security,” said CRR Director Alicia H. Munnell, the Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management Sciences at the Carroll School. “It also reflects the tremendous backing that we have received from the entire Boston College community.”

Established in 1998 as part of the SSA’s Retirement Research Consortium, the center produces policy-relevant research on Social Security and retirement income issues, educates and trains new researchers in the field of retirement income policy, and disseminates research findings to the research community, policymakers, and the general public.  All of the CRR’s research and publications are available to the public on .

To enlarge the pool of qualified researchers in the field of retirement income policy, the CRR manages SSA’s Steven H. Sandell Grant Awards for junior scholars or non-tenured scholars, and dissertation fellowships for Ph.D. students with all-but-dissertation status.  Research findings are disseminated though the center’s working papers and biweekly issue in brief series, delivered via e-mail to over 10,000 recipients, and as articles in peer-reviewed journals.

The CRR has also successfully leveraged SSA’s investment by attracting funding from other sources.

Phil Gloudemans | University Communications | November 2018