Dominique Baker

Associate Professor

Dominique Baker is an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development’s School of Education and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware. She is also a UD Cochran Scholar.

Her research focuses on the way that education policy affects and shapes the access and success of minoritized students in higher education. She primarily investigates student financial aid, admissions policies and policies that influence the creation of an inclusive and equitable campus climate.

Her work has been published in a variety of journals, including the American Educational Research Journal, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Researcher, the Journal of Higher Education, and the Journal of College Student Development. Her work and expertise have been highlighted by The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed, among others. Dr. Baker has also testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy on race, racism and student loans. She is also a member of the Board on Higher Education and Workforce within the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

In recognition of the impact and promise of her scholarly career, she is the current American Educational Research Association Early Career Award winner, a National Academy of Education(NAEd)/Spencer Foundation postdoctoral fellow and past recipient of the Association for Education Finance and Policy’s Early Career Award and the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Excellence in Public Policy Award.

Educational Background

Ph.D., Leadership and Policy Studies with Higher Education concentration, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2016
M.Ed., Student Affairs Practice in Higher Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 2012
B.A., Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 2008

Professional Experience

Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2024-present
Associate Professor of Education Policy, Southern Methodist University, 2022-2023
Faculty Affiliate of the Data Science Institute, Southern Methodist University, 2021-2023
Donald D. Harrington Fellows Program, College of Education, University of Texas at Austin, 2021-2022
Visiting Scholar, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, 2020
Assistant Professor of Education Policy, Southern Methodist University, 2016-2022

Recent Grants

Baker, Dominique (PI). To borrow a phrase: An investigation of the news media’s role in racialized student loan policy communication. NAEd/Spencer Foundation, 2022-2024 ($70,000)
Pipeline Research Grant (PI). To borrow a phrase: An investigation of the news media’s role in racialized student loan policy communication. Russel Sage Foundation, 2022 ($30,000)
Research Grant (co-PI). Test-optional admissions policy equity outcomes. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2021-2023 ($1,424,752)

Recent Professional Awards

Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, 2022-2024
Donald D. Harrington Fellows Program in the College of Education, University of Texas in Austin, 2021-2022
Outstanding Reviewer, American Educational Research Association(AERA)-Educational Researcher, 2021
Excellence in Public Policy Higher Education Award, Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Council on Public Policy in Higher Education, 2021
Early Career Award, Association for Education Finance & Policy, 2021
Outstanding Reviewer, AERA- Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2019

To view Dr. Baker’s full CV, please visit her personal website here.