The Education Trust Welcomes Tiffany Jones as Director of Higher Education Policy
WASHINGTON — The Education Trust is happy to announce Tiffany Jones, Ph.D., as its Director of Higher Education Policy. Tiffany brings to the advocacy organization a wealth of experience promoting equity in higher education. She will lead development of Ed Trust’s higher education policy agenda, with a solid focus on improving access, affordability, and graduation rates for underserved students, including Black, Native, Latino, first generation or students from low-income families.
“Tiffany’s deep passion and ability to view the challenges in higher education through an equity lens will make her a dynamic player in advancing our agenda to improve educational outcomes for low-income students and students of color,” said José Luis Santos, Ph.D., vice president of higher education policy and practice at Ed Trust. “Her experience, skills, and knowledge will prove extremely valuable as we work with our partners and policymakers to promote policies to improve access and success, and make college more affordable.”
Tiffany comes to The Education Trust from the Southern Education Foundation (SEF), where she led their higher education agenda. At SEF, she partnered with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions to advance student success. She also engaged in analysis of federal and state policies such as performance- and outcomes-based funding, using an equity lens.
Prior to joining SEF, Tiffany was a dean’s fellow at the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California, where she helped advance the Equity Scorecard in contexts like Minority Serving Institutions and urban high schools. She has written academic and policy publications on how higher education policy and practices impact college success for low-income students and students of color. In their upcoming book, Outcomes-Based Funding and Race in Higher Education: Can Equity be Bought?, she and her co-authors introduce a framework for prioritizing equity issues in higher education accountability systems.
A native of Michigan, Tiffany holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education Policy from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in Family Studies and English from Central Michigan University.
