Gándara’s Scholars research will examine how the administrative burdens of free-college programs, such as eligibility criteria and application processes, impact college enrollment and degree completion for racially or ethnically minoritized students. Gándara aims to provide a more complete understanding of how administrative burdens affect students from different racial or ethnic groups, and, ultimately, to inform program design in ways that help reduce gaps in program take-up and degree attainment. Gandara will develop new expertise in survey design and measurement and expanded expertise in causal inference with the mentorship of Ken Frank, Professor of Sociometrics in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education at Michigan State University. Gándara will also meet regularly with Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, to deepen her content expertise on the education of students of color.
Do eligibility criteria and application processes in free-college programs disproportionately affect racial or ethnic minorities?
