A presentation and analysis of evidence of student inventors from colleges and universities across the United States who applied to a prestigious national prize. 

Abstract We use administrative records on the population of individuals who applied for or were granted a patent between 1996 and 2014 to characterize the lives of more than 1.2 million inventors in the United States. We show that children of low-income parents are much less likely to become inventors than their higher-income counterparts (as are minorities and women). Decompositions using third grade and older test scores indicate that this income-innovation gap can largely be accounted for by differences in human capital acquisition while children are growing up.

Explores invention education and its many benefits to society.