Biographical Information on the 22th Annual Conference Speakers

Sandy Baum is Senior Policy Analyst at the College Board and Professor of Economics at Skidmore College. Dr. Baum earned her BA in sociology at Bryn Mawr College and her Ph.D. in economics at Columbia University. She has written extensively on issues relating to college access, college pricing, student aid policy, student debt, affordability and other aspects of higher education finance. Dr. Baum is the co-author of Trends in Student Aid and Trends in College Pricing for the College Board, in addition to the 2004 publication, Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society. She authored a 2001 monograph on Higher Education Dollars and Sense: A Framework for Campus Discussion, as well as Nellie Mae’s 2003 study of student borrowers in repayment. The College Board recently published a revised edition of her Primer on Economics for Financial Aid Professionals. Dr. Baum has served as consulting economist to the College Board’s Financial Aid Standards and Services Advisory Committee since 1988 and has worked with a variety of other higher education organizations, in addition to individual colleges and universities.

Lutz Berkner is a Senior Research Associate at MPR Associates, a consulting firm in Berkeley, California, that specializes in education policy and research. For the last 10 years he has worked on creating the public use data files for several of the higher education surveys conducted by the U. S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), including the National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS:93, 96, 2000, and 2004) and the Beginning Postsecondary Students longitudinal studies (BPS:94, 98 and 2001), which focus on student persistence and graduation rates. He is the author of many NCES analytical reports, including Access to Postsecondary Education for the 1992 High School Graduates, Trends in Undergraduate Borrowing 1989-1996, Student Financing of Undergraduate Education 1999-2000, and Descriptive Summary of 1995-96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: Six Years Later. During the 1980's he was in charge of financial aid research in the New Jersey Department of Higher Education.

Cheryl Blanco is senior program director for Policy Analysis and Research at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). She monitors historical and emerging socio, economic, and political trends that impact higher education; directs the work of several policy projects; and produces a variety of publications to improve policymaking in higher education. Prior to joining the WICHE staff, Blanco was educational policy director at the Florida Postsecondary Education Planning Commission. She has held faculty and administrative positions at Arecibo Technological University College, University of Puerto Rico, including assistant to the vice president for academic affairs, director of the division of continuing education, and tenured associate professor in the English Department.

Pamela Burdman is joining the Hewlett Foundation this month as a program officer in the education program. A journalist for the last 13 years, she has written extensively about higher education issues for publications including The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, National Crosstalk, and Black Issues in Higher Education.

Amy Cervenan is a Research Associate with the Educational Policy Institute (EPI), a non-partisan research organization dedicated to facilitating the expansion of educational opportunity for all students, at the Canadian office in Toronto. Ms. Cervenan has worked on issues related to access to education, retention and the student experience with the World University Service of Canada, McGill University’s Royal Victoria College, and the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation prior to joining EPI in 2003. A graduate of McGill University, Amy is co-author of both Global Higher Education Rankings and The More Things Change: Undergraduate student living standards after 40 years of the Canada Student Loans Program.

Christina Chang Wei acquired seven years of experience in the area of postsecondary student financial support while at the University of California. During that time, she conducted a Web-based survey on graduate student financial support and produced the university’s annual report on student financial aid programs. In addition to responding to ad hoc requests for analysis from the UC Board of Regents, Ms. Wei was charged with the responsibility of determining the impact of state and federal legislative initiatives on UC policy and operations. Ms. Wei also developed a proposal for the University of California to sponsor a bill establishing California’s college savings fund, the Golden State Scholarshare program. Ms. Wei has conducted several studies at MPR, focusing on financial aid in postsecondary education. Her work has included in depth analyses of trends in college pricing, changes in receipt of financial aid and financial aid policy over time, the effects of tuition and financial aid on net prices, the demographic characteristics and persistence rates of Pell Grant recipients, and the policies affecting students who are considered independent for financial aid purposes. Ms. Wei holds a master’s degree in Public Policy and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with Highest Honors from the University of California at Berkeley.

Susan Choy is vice president of MPR Associates, Inc., a Berkeley research and consulting firm specializing in education. She has been conducting research on issues related to postsecondary access and persistence and student financial aid for more than 20 years, primarily for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). She is the author of numerous reports published by NCES on these topics and has been involved in the design and analysis of the various cross-sectional and longitudinal postsecondary sample surveys conducted by NCES. For several years she has had major responsibility for indicators and topical analyses on higher education for the Department of Education’s annual Condition of Education. Dr. Choy has a Ph.D. in public administration from New York University.

Ann Coles is senior vice president for College Access Services and Director, Pathways to College Network, at The Education Resources Institute (TERI). She provides leadership and direction for college access programs in the Boston area and nationally, including several TRIO programs, the Boston Higher Education Partnership, and the Pathways to College Network. Before joining TERI, she managed programs for disadvantaged students at a Massachusetts community college and at non-profit organizations in New York City and Washington, DC. Coles is a board member of ACCES, Inc., a scholarship program for Boston students and the advisory boards of Scholarship America and the Center for State Scholars.

Michelle Asha Cooper is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on issues related to educational equity, college access, and K-16 transitions, particularly for racial/ethnic minorities and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Her dissertation is titled Dreams Deferred?: Examining the Relationship between Early and Later Postsecondary Educational Aspirations across Racial/Ethnic Groups. Presently, Ms. Cooper is a Graduate Assistant at the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (US Department of Education). Prior to joining the Advisory Committee, she worked for the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Council for Independent Colleges (CIC), and King’s College. She is the 2003 recipient of the National Education Association’s Excellence in the Academy New Scholar Award. Ms. Cooper received her BA in English from the College of Charleston and a M.P.S. in Africana Studies from Cornell University.

Melanie E. Corrigan is the associate director of the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Center for Policy Analysis. ACE is the primary coordinating body for all U.S. higher education institutions, providing leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues through advocacy, research, and program initiatives. The Center for Policy Analysis conducts and commissions research on issues of interest to college leaders, policymakers, and the media. Melanie's expertise is in higher education finance, federal student aid policy, and the college presidency. Melanie earned degrees from the LBJ School at the University of Texas-Austin and Smith College.

Alisa Federico Cunningham, Director of Research and staff member at the Institute for Higher Education Policy since 1997, engages in work addressing a broad array of topics, including higher education financing, student financial aid, minority-serving colleges and universities, international higher education policy, and opportunities for student access and success. She directs the Institute’s research projects and supervises the work of the research team. Ms. Cunningham's experience in policy research and analysis includes both domestic and international fields. Most recently, Ms. Cunningham contributed to a study of the feasibility of adding a student unit record system to the data collection of the National Center for Education Statistics, and is assisting the Massachusetts Task Force on Student Financial Aid in writing a final report to the Board of Education. She received her master's degree in European Studies from the George Washington University and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science/Interdisciplinary Honors from Villanova University, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Mark Ehlert is a Research Analyst in the Economics Department at the University of Missouri–Columbia. Mark received his doctorate in comprehensive vocational education in 1998 and has worked extensively with institution and state-level data to conduct research and evaluation on K-12, higher education, and employment and training systems. Recent research projects include studies of student outcomes from public schooling; factors influencing default rates on student loans; the role of financial aid in college attendance and performance; development of educational leaders; impacts of professional development on teacher practice and student learning; and predicting enrollment of college applicants.

Baranda Fermin is currently a doctoral student in the Sociology program at Michigan State University, where she is a University Distinguished Fellow. Baranda received her Ed.M in Sociology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in May 2005. In addition to her graduate training, Baranda received her BS in Elementary Education at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and is a Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Scholar. Baranda’s research areas include academic and career pathways; student and institutional funding; college aspirations and influences on student postsecondary behavior; and the transition into postsecondary education transition for middle- to low- achieving, low income and underrepresented students. Her research primarily focuses on state and federal policies that support or inhibit seamless movement through the educational pipeline for both youth and adults. Baranda works with the Big Twelve Council on Black Student Government to produce discourse and research on, and funding for, underrepresented low-income, adult and minority students in baccalaureate and graduate/professional programs. Along with these activities, she is the proprietor and benefactor of the Brenda Joyce Fermin Work Ethics Scholarship, which is the predecessor to the Brenda Joyce Fermin Foundation for Transitions. At present she is a Research Fellow for the Community College Research Center at the Institute on Education and the Economy at Teachers College, Columbia University; and the research director for the National Tuition Endowment student movement.

Fred J. Galloway, Ed.D., is currently associate professor in the School of Education at the University of San Diego, where he has also served as associate dean and director of strategic programs. Prior to joining the university faculty, he was Project Director for the national Direct Student Loan Evaluation project at Macro International, as well as the Director of Federal Policy Analysis at the American Council on Education, where he represented the interests of the higher education community before the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government. Dr. Galloway received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of California, San Diego, and his doctoral degree in the economics of education from Harvard University. His research interests include higher education policy, the economics of education, and econometrics.

Keith Greiner, Ed.D., is Research Director at the Iowa College Student Aid
Commission. He conducts studies of higher education policy and manages a database used by state and institutional policymakers. Greiner has published studies of higher education trends, policies, financial aid, academic service quality, and population demographics.

James Griffith is program director of the postsecondary surveys at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Before coming to NCES, he worked at the applied research unit in the Montgomery County Public Schools. Previously, Jim worked as a senior study director at Westat, Inc. and as a uniformed research psychologist at The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and continues reserve military service. Jim has published many papers, chiefly examining the effectiveness of organizational practices and policies. Jim received his degree in applied social and organizational psychology from The Claremont Colleges.

Patricia Grimes is a policy and research analyst at the Minnesota Office of Higher Education in St. Paul. Her duties include legislative relations. She has worked in student financing research for 20 years. Prior to working at the Office of Higher Education she worked for a year as the administrator of the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and for 8 years as a legislative fiscal analyst for the Minnesota House of Representatives. She has a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Grinnell College.

W. Lee Hansen is Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics, UW-Madison. His involvement in student financial aid issues began in the late 1960s with the College Board's Cartter Commission, continued in the early 1970s with his work on a program of high tuition/high aid for Wisconsin, his findings in the early 1980s that student financial aid had accomplished relatively little in expanding access to young people from lower income families, and work in the late 1980s on the tradeoff between quality and access.

Donald Heller is associate professor and senior research associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University. He teaches and conducts research on higher education economics, public policy, and finance, as well as academic and administrative uses of technology in higher education. He has consulted on higher education policy issues with university systems and policymaking organizations in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Washington, DC, and he has testified in front of state legislative and Congressional committees. Dr. Heller earned an Ed.D. and Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Edward R. Hines is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Illinois State University. Author of five books and over 60 journal articles, he is nationally-recognized for his contributions to higher education in the areas of interstate higher education finance and governance. For 15 years, Hines was Editor and Publisher of Grapevine, the monthly research report of state tax appropriations for higher education. Hines authored “The Governance of Higher Education” that appeared in Theory and Research in Higher Education, he served as President of the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s statewide Faculty Advisory Committee for six years. He was a member of a three-year study at Illinois State University that reformulated its system of governance. Since retiring from active teaching at Illinois State in 2003, Hines has been a staff member of the Center for Educational Policy. He recently has directed and served as principal investigator on three major grants. These include State Action for Education Leadership Project, a national project funded by the Wallace Foundation; and two State-funded grants, College Access for Minority Students Who Meet Prairie State Exam Standards, and Increasing the Number of Minority Students in Illinois Higher Education.

Ross A. Hodel is the Director of the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. He earned his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in Educational Administration and holds a BS degree and MS degree in Education from Illinois State University. In addition to his work at the Center, Hodel teaches courses in Higher Education Finance and the Politics of Education at Illinois State University. Dr. Hodel previously served as Deputy Director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and as Executive Assistant for Education to Illinois Governor James R. Thompson. He has served as Manager of School Finance for the Illinois State Board of Education and has public school teaching experience in the Pekin and West Aurora, Illinois public schools.

Laura Horn has been a senior research associate for over ten years at MPR Associates, Inc. Most of her research has been in the area of higher education, with special emphasis on issues of access and persistence. While directing a major contract for the National Center of Education Statistics, Ms. Horn has authored many reports, several of which focus on the experiences of non-traditional and at-risk populations. Her research has examined factors that help "resilient" populations of at-risk and first-generation students make it to college. She has also written several reports examining the relationship between financial aid and persistence in higher education. Along with her colleagues, Lutz Berkner and Susan Choy, she received the NASFAA Golden Quill Award in 2000.

Kathleen F. Kelly has over 20 years of experience in higher education administration. Now a consultant for higher education organizations and institutions, she was a member of the staff of the Illinois Board of Higher Education from 1983 to 1999. As Deputy Director for Academic Affairs, she provided leadership for policy studies in undergraduate education, graduate education, affordability, statewide program priorities, quality and productivity. She was responsible for statewide program planning, new program approval, and review of existing programs. During the past two years, she has provided consulting services to state-level coordinating and planning boards, national policy organizations, and individual institutions. Assignments have included state-level planning initiatives, policy development, program and project evaluation, and research and report writing.

Yuliya Keselman joined the Institute for Higher Education Policy staff as Research Analyst in March, 2005. Ms. Keselman recently completed her master’s degree at the London School of Economics. Her dissertation there focused on the reform of higher education institutions in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. While at the London School of Economics, she also interned at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, where she edited and translated articles and provided research support on economic policy and foreign affairs. Ms. Keselman also spent several years as a finance analyst in the health care investment industry. She graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a dual degree in Economics and French literature. Yuliya is also an active member in Amnesty International and is fluent in four languages.

Dongbin Kim is a research and policy analyst at National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Her research focuses on financial aid policy and equity, racial diversity, college choice, and institutional impact on student persistence. Dr. Kim's research has been published in Research in Higher Education, Journal of Student Financial Aid, and Higher Education Policy and Management. Her recent research examines how major field of study affects student persistence. Dr. Kim holds an Ed.M. in economics of education from Seoul National University in Korea and a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Susan Kleemann is the director of Research, Planning and Policy Analysis (RPPA) at the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) where she has been employed for four years. Trained as an economist, she has spent most of her working life engaged in forecasting and economic analysis. Her research department provides forecasts for, data on, and analyses of various programs that ISAC administers such as its large, need-based Monetary Award Program.

John B. Lee is president of JBL Associates, Inc., in Bethesda, MD, a consulting firm specializing in postsecondary education policy research. His career includes work at the local, state and national level. Dr. Lee has published dozens of reports on different aspects of postsecondary education policy and finance. Currently Dr. Lee is involved in a major effort to help community colleges improve student graduation rates funded by the Lumina Foundation. Before founding JBL Associates, he worked for the Education and Labor Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Education Commission of the States, and Stanford Research International. He earned a BA and MA from California State University at Sacramento, and received an Ed.D. in postsecondary education from the University of California, Berkeley.

Melvin Letteer received his Ph.D. in Political Economy from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1995, where he worked primarily on statistical analyses related to law enforcement, policing, and crime. Letteer was subsequently employed for seven years by a national third party medical insurance administrator where he prepared analyses on trends in medical insurance utilization for client populations and evaluations of various health care cost containment strategies. In 2002, he joined the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority. His primary responsibilities are to research and provide policy analyses on issues such as postsecondary student financial aid, access, retention, and success, as well as contribute to the forecasting and budgeting processes for Kentucky's postsecondary student financial aid programs.

Bridget Terry Long is Associate Professor of Education and Economics Harvard Graduate School of Education. Trained as an economist, Dr. Long's work applies the theory and methods of economics to examine various aspects of the market for higher education in the United States. Her research focuses on access and choice in higher education, the outcomes of students in college, and the behavior of postsecondary institutions. Of particular interest is the impact of government and institutional policies. Current research projects include studies on the impact of financial aid policies, an evaluation of the effectiveness of postsecondary remediation, and analyses of the role of class size and faculty characteristics on student outcomes. Originally from the Chicago area, Dr. Long received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Harvard University and her AB from Princeton University. She is a recipient of the American Educational Research Association Dissertation Award and a National Science Foundation Graduate Studies Fellowship. Dr. Long is a Faculty Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and has received research grants from the Spencer Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, and National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. She was awarded the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2002-2004.

Joe L. McCormick is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) and Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation (KHESLC). Dr. McCormick is a graduate of the Leadership Kentucky Class of 2004; serves on Kentucky’s Cradle to College Commission and P-16 Council; and is on the Boards of Directors of Kentucky’s Affordable Prepaid Tuition (KAPT), the National College Access Network (NCAN), and the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP). Prior to joining KHEAA and KHESLC, Dr. McCormick served as Vice President for National Affairs for the Apollo Group and as a member of the University of Phoenix Online teaching faculty. From 1995 to 1999, Dr. McCormick served as Chair of the Direct Loan Task Force within the U.S. Department of Education. In this position, he oversaw activities of the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. Dr. McCormick served as Executive Director of the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education from 1993 to 1995. From 1980 to 1992, Dr. McCormick was President and CEO of the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation where he led the organization to a growth of $4 billion and secured its position among the top five guarantee agencies in the country. From 1987 to 1994, Dr. McCormick was a charter member and Vice Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, a Congressionally-mandated committee providing advice and counsel to the U.S Congress and the Secretary of Education regarding federal financial aid policy. Dr. McCormick served as 1977–1978 President of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and 1986–1987 President of NCHELP. Dr. McCormick is a native of Texas and holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to Connie, his wife of over 20 years, Dr. McCormick has three daughters, seven grandchildren, and three dogs.

Michael S. McPherson is the fifth President of the Spencer Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2003 he served as President of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota for seven years. A nationally known economist whose expertise focuses on the interplay between education and economics, McPherson spent the 22 years prior to his Macalester presidency as professor of economics, chairman of the Economics Department, and dean of faculty at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He holds a BA in Mathematics, an MA in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Economics, all from the University of Chicago. McPherson, who is co-author and editor of seven books, including Keeping College Affordable and Economic Analysis and Moral Philosophy, was founding co-editor of the journal Economics and Philosophy. He has served as a trustee of the College Board, the American Council on Education, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. McPherson has been a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Courtney McSwain joined the Institute for Higher Education Policy as a Research Associate in March, 2005. Prior to her appointment to the staff, Ms. McSwain was a research intern at the Institute, focusing on the Private Scholarships project. She is currently working on her master’s degree in public policy at American University, and will graduate in May 2006. Before coming to Washington DC, she interned with Guilford County Schools in North Carolina, where she helped evaluate five magnet schools. She also interned in the district office of U.S. Representative Brad Miller, where she helped answer constituent concerns. She received her bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where she graduated summa cum laude.

David Mundel, an independent consultant to both for-profit corporations and not-for-profit organizations. His work focuses on information technology product and services strategy (particularly to support physicians and customer service personnel) and student aid policy. Dr. Mundel received his Ph.D. in Political Science and Economics from MIT, following the completion of his dissertation, Federal Aid to Higher Education and the Poor. Dr. Mundel was also a Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. Following his graduate studies, he was an Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Assistant Director of the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, and Director of the City of Boston’s Neighborhood Development and Employment Administration. Dr. Mundel has extensive experience as a higher education policy researcher and analyst. His work on higher education issues included assignments in the federal government (for the Bureau of the Budget, during both the Johnson and Nixon Administrations), the Department of Health Education and Welfare, and the Congressional Budget Office). His consulting and research engagements have included work with the RAND Corporation, the College Board, and the Brookings Institution. Dr. Mundel recently authored a paper for Brookings— “Expanding the Student Aid Policy Debate – Can the Impact of Student Aid Programs be Increased by Changing Program Design, Operations, and Marketing?” In addition, he (with Ann Coles of TERI) recently completed a Lumina Foundation supported research project—“An exploration of what we know about the formation and impact of college prices, student aid, and the affordability of college-going and a prospectus for future research.”

Chris Mushrush is an Instructor in the Department of Economics at Illinois State University. He serves as the economist and data analyst for the Recession, Retrenchment and Recovery project team. Chris attended the United States Air Force Academy and has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics from Illinois State University. He is nearing completion of his doctoral work in higher education administration and is completing dissertation work related to student financial aid and higher education funding. Chris was the Treasurer of the National Assn. of Graduate and Professional Students. He lives in Bloomington, IL with his wife Sheri and their two sons, Aaron 2, and Eric 5 months.

Erik C. Ness is a doctoral student in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University. His research interests include the politics of higher education, the public policy process, and the governance of higher education systems. As associate director of the Policy, Planning, and Research division of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, he is currently engaged in the evaluation and study of the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship program. Ness holds a master’s degree in comparative and international education from Loyola University Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in political science from North Carolina State University.

Laura W. Perna is Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Effective July 1, 2005, she will be Associate Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Her scholarship examines the ways in which individual characteristics, social structures, and public policies enable and restrict the ability of women, racial/ethnic minorities, and individuals of lower socioeconomic status to obtain the economic, social, and political opportunities that are associated with two aspects of higher education: access as a student and employment as a faculty member. Her research has been supported by grants from the American Education Research Association, Association for Institutional Research, University of Maryland General Research Board, and the Lumina Foundation for Education. She is the 2003 recipient of the Association for the Study of Higher Education's Promising Scholar/Early Career Achievement Award.

Yves Y. Pelletier is the Manager of Pilot Projects at the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, a position held since February 2004. Prior to joining the Foundation, he was the manager of government and external relations for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, an arm's-length federal agency that promotes and supports university-based research and training in the social sciences and humanities. Yves has earned undergraduate degrees in both the natural and social sciences. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in political history at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Michael Podgursky is Middlebush Professor of Economics and Department Chair at University of Missouri-Columbia. He has been Department Chair since 1995. Prior to that he was on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1980-1995). He earned a BA in Economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia (1974) and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1980). He has published numerous articles and reports on education policy and teacher quality, and co-authored a book, Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality. He is a member of the American Economic Association, American Education Finance Association, and the Society of Labor Economists.

Derek V. Price is a higher education consultant whose areas of expertise include research and analysis of higher education access, success and social inequality issues, as well as strategic thinking for institutional transformation and systems-change. Prior to entering the consulting profession, Dr. Price was director of higher education research at Lumina Foundation for Education. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from American University, and holds a master's degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a bachelor's degree from Duke University. Dr. Price works closely with MDC, Inc.—the managing partner for Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count—on issues of data facilitation and institutional transformation. This national movement to improve student success at America’s community colleges currently includes 38 colleges in 7 states. Dr. Price is also a member of the validation research advisory board for the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, and has been an associate with the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Dr. Price’s research has been supported by the American Educational Research Association, and he has published in several peer-reviewed journals. He is the author of Borrowing Inequality: Race, Class and Student Loans (Lynne Rienner, 2004).

Sheila Pruden has more than 25 years of experience in student financial aid program administration and policy analysis. As the Director of Research and Policy Analysis for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), a position she held from 1988 to 2003, she managed program policy for the Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP)— one of the largest state need-based programs in the country. She has conducted surveys and focus groups with students, parents, aid administrators, and policymakers, and completed database analysis on a variety of student aid topics including affordability, academic success and persistence, loan indebtedness, and financial aid for adult learners. Responsibilities for MAP formula development as well as FFELP program research and financial modeling have required familiarity with federal need analysis as well as reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. She has made several presentations at the NASSGAP/NCHELP Research Conference and served on the conference planning committee for the past five years. Pruden holds an MS degree in Education from Western Illinois University and is currently employed as a student financial aid research and policy consultant.

Sheri H. Ranis serves as a Program Director for Education with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). Her current portfolio includes projects on education research quality and transitions to college among disadvantaged populations. Outside the SSRC Dr. Ranis has helped design evaluations for fellowship programs that support college placement for at risk youth and taught graduate-level classes on research methods at Teachers College, Columbia University. She serves as a reviewer for a number of education journals and is a member of the editorial advisory board of The Journal of Studies in International Education. She is also a member of the Pathways to College Network Executive Committee. Dr. Ranis received her Ph.D. from Teachers College.

Kimberly Rogers is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate at Pennsylvania State University (with an expected graduation date of August 2005), where she works with Dr. Donald Heller. Her research interests include federal and state policy, financial aid, and access and equity issues. Kimberly's dissertation research was funded by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) and the Lumina Foundation for Education. Kimberly will be an assistant professor at SUNY-Buffalo starting in August 2005.

Laurent Ross, College Savings Program Manager for Calvert, has over 20 years experience in student financial aid. Laurent’s mission is to help all parents send their children to college. Prior to working with Calvert, Laurent was appointed by Mayor Anthony A. Williams of the District of Columbia to create and lead the brand-new D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program. This innovative $17 million scholarship program allows all D.C. residents to attend any public college in the United States at the in-state rate. Laurent worked in the U.S. Department of Education during the Clinton administration redesigning the whole way that student aid is delivered in the country. One of the innovations he worked on was putting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid on the Internet. Prior to serving in the Department of Education, Laurent spent ten years at the American Council on Education where he helped lobby for increases in student aid so that all Americans could attend the college of their choice. Laurent is a graduate of American University, where he majored in International Relations. He also holds a Masters of Information Systems from George Washington University. Laurent enjoys books, music, and sports. He ran his 1st marathon on October 18, 2003. He resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife Mercedes and his two daughters, Tadina and Machel.

Robert Shireman is the director of The Institute for College Access and Success and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education. Shireman serves as a congressional appointee to the Federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, and as an advisor to the Aspen Institute, the Pathways to College Network, and the Education Trust-West. In the 1990s, as a senior policy advisor for former President Bill Clinton and previously an aide to Senator Paul Simon, Shireman was instrumental in engineering reforms of college aid, creating the America Reads and GEAR UP programs, and promoting Hispanic education investments. After nearly a decade in Washington, Shireman returned home to California to lead the higher education program at the The James Irvine Foundation. Shireman holds a BA in economics from U.C. Berkeley, and masters degrees from Harvard (education) and the University of San Francisco (public administration).

Jessica Simon is a doctoral candidate in the economics of education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She also works as a research assistant at the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teachers College. Simon's research interests include dropout prevention and the economics of urban and minority education. She holds a masters degree in economics and finance from Brandeis University's International Business School, and lives in New York City with her husband and two siberian huskies, Harley and Tundra.

Laura Stein is the Program Assistant for the Social Science Research Council’s (SSRC) Transitions to College Project. In her two years at the SSRC, she helped author the forthcoming report, Questions that Matter: A New Research Agenda on Postsecondary Access and Success, and developed an extensive searchable database of references on transitions to college. Laura was a speaker at the 4th Annual SUNY Community College Retention Symposium in Loch Sheldrake, NY. She holds her BA in the College of Social Studies from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.

Richard Tucker is the Associate Director of Assessment and Evaluation at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in Nashville, TN. His current substantive work examines the role of merit-based financial aid on student access and retention.

Alex Usher is the Vice-President (Research) and Director (Canada) of the Educational Policy Institute (EPI), a non-partisan research organization dedicated to facilitating the expansion of educational opportunity for all students, focusing on students with the least support and the most need. He has been working on issues related to access to education for over ten years. He was the first national director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (1995-6), served as a researcher and lobbyist for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (1996-98), and was co-manager of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation Bursary Program, Canada’s largest grant program, in 1999 and 2000. In 2001, Mr. Usher became the Director of Research and Program Development for the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, where he was in charge of Canada’s largest-ever research project on access to post-secondary education. He is the author or co-author of two dozen monographs and articles on access to education and education quality, including two editions of The Price of Knowledge, which is the standard reference source for information on access and student finance in Canada, and The Global Higher Education Rankings, which compares affordability and accessibility in 15 countries.

Nathan C. Walker is a doctoral student in the Higher & Postsecondary Education Administration program at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he received his Masters of Arts degree. Nate received his M.Div from Union Theological Seminary in May 2005 and is a candidate for Unitarian Universalist community ministry. In addition to his graduate training, Nate received a BFA from Emerson College, Boston; he trained with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco; and he is certified by the State of Massachusetts to teach PreK-12 dance, communications, and theatre arts. As a professional, Nate has served as an instructor at Western Nevada Community College and Lake Tahoe Community College, the ex officio of The Da Vinci Foundation, a fellowship program coordinator at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. In addition, Nate has been an Advisor for New York University's School of Continuing Education and an Artist in Resident for the Nevada Arts Council. Nate's vocation is rooted in the vision to found Da Vinci College and hopes to do so by building upon the legacy of Unitarian Universalist leaders who have built colleges in America (Stanford, Antioch, Reed, Cooper Union, Cornell, etc.). For the last four years Nate has served on the Teachers College Student Senate; for the last two years he has served as the co-chair of the Columbia University Senate’s Student Affairs Committee and is the first voting student senator from Teachers College in University Senate history. He currently sits on the University Senate's Executive Committee and is the co-chair of the ROTC Task Force. Nate is the executive director for the National Tuition Endowment student movement and has recently helped the Senate propose Agora, an online scholarship matching portal.

Tracy Hunt-White has been a statistician at the National Center for Education Statistics since 2003. She assists on various postsecondary studies conducted by NCES. These include the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, and the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study. She is the program officer for the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study which tracks 2003-04 first-time freshmen in 2006 and 2009. Prior to NCES, Tracy was an institutional researcher for 11 years at The Catholic University of America.

Hoke Wilson, Ph.D., is a Senior Analyst and Project Director with ORC Macro, International, where he specializes in issues relating to postsecondary education policy. His professional efforts have examined the impact of Federal regulations upon student retention and propensity for loan default, and postsecondary institutions’ perceptions of burden; the optimality of the current statistical model used to identify aid applications in need of verification; the attitudes and practices of financial aid professionals with respect to the verification process, as well as their expectations regarding the Office of Federal Student Aid’s Front End Business Integration; and the level of awareness of financial aid resources among high school students and their parents. As a political economist with a Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, his personal endeavors focus on incentive structures in the efficient provision of collectively consumed goods and services.

John R. Wittstruck has been with the Missouri Department of Higher Education since 1988 and has held several positions, including associate and deputy commissioner of higher education. Currently, as Director of the department's Educational Policy, Planning, and Improvement Center (EPPIC), he spends the majority of his time on research in the area of student financial aid and its role in financing public higher education. Dr. Wittstruck was appointed by the governor to the Missouri Training and Employment Council (MTEC) and represents the Department on Missouri's NGA Workforce Policy Academy for "Creating the Next Generation of Workforce Development Policy." He received a BS in biology from Morningside College (Iowa), an MS degree in student personnel administration, and a Ph.D. in higher/postsecondary education administration from Syracuse University.

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