CV

Education

University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education (May 2025)
Doctor of Philosophy, Higher Education; Certificate in College and University Teaching
Dissertation: Power of the Purse: Examining the Role of Philanthropic Foundations in Postsecondary Public Policy
Committee: Dr. Laura W. Perna (Chair), Dr. Rand Quinn, Dr. Denisa Gándara

Boston College, Lynch School of Education and Human Development (May 2017)
Master of Arts, Higher Education Administration

University of Richmond (May 2011)
Bachelor of Arts, Major: International Studies, Minor: History, cum laude

Publications

Fellowships and Awards

Predoctoral Fellow, Institute of Education Sciences (Sept. 2021–May 2025)
U.S. Department of Education

Fontaine Fellow, William T. Fontaine Society (Aug. 2019–May 2025)
University of Pennsylvania

Gates Millennium Scholar (Apr. 2011–May 2025)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dean’s Fellow, Graduate School of Education (Aug. 2019–2021)
University of Pennsylvania

Research & Work Experience

University of Pennsylvania

Penn Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (Aug. 2019–May 2025)
Predoctoral Fellow, PI: Dr. Laura W. Perna

Amalia Daché Research Team (Aug. 2020–Aug. 2021)
Research Assistant, PI: Dr. Amalia Daché

Institute for Research on Higher Education (Jan. 2020–Dec. 2020)
Research Team Member, PI: Dr. Joni E. Finney

U.S. Department of Education (Aug. 2022–May 2023)
Research & Policy Fellow, Federal Student Aid, PI: Dr. Dennis A. Kramer II

MDRC (Sept. 2021–May 2022)
Institute of Education Sciences Predoctoral Fellow, PI: Dan Cullinan & Dr. Michael Weiss

National Association for College Admission Counseling (Sept. 2017 – July 2019)
Research Associate

New England Board of Higher Education (Sept. 2016 – June 2017)
Policy Research Intern

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Tachine, A. R., Patel, P. R., & Daché, A. (2021). Time-traveling through land and sea: Unearthing the past to cultivate seeds of present and future solidarity. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Special Issue: Toward Greater Solidarity in Social Justice Scholarly Activism. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1983663

Policy Reports & Briefs

Kitmitto, S., Mackevicius, C., McCambly, H., Patel, P. R., & Sands, S. (2024). (How) Can Funders Support Transformative Educational Research? A Call to Reflective Practice in Support of Quantitative Criticalism. Quant for What Collective. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mJB5UFYeiGPLVRxWHs2ZBaiSoM5YVpCi/view
Cahalan, M. W., Addison, M., Brunt, N., Patel, P. R., Vaughan III, T., Genao, A., & Perna, L. W. (2022). Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2022 Historical Trend Report. Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy of the University of Pennsylvania. http://pellinstitute.org/indicators/
Cahalan, M. W., Addison, M., Brunt, N., Patel, P. R., & Perna, L. W. (2021). Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2021 Historical Trend Report. Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy of the University of Pennsylvania. http://pellinstitute.org/indicators/
Patel, P. R. & Van Ostenbridge, L. A. (2020). Uncertain and Volatile State Funding. In Odle, T. K. & Finney, J. E. (Eds.), A Case Study of “Faultlines” Shaping Higher Education Policy and Opportunity in California. Philadelphia, PA: Institute for Research on Higher Education, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania. https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1575&context=gse_pubs
Cahalan, M. W., Perna, L. W., Addison, M., Murray, C., Patel, P. R., & Jiang, N. (2020). Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2020 Historical Trend Report. Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy of the University of Pennsylvania. http://pellinstitute.org/indicators/
Patel, P. & Clinedinst, M. (2019). “State-by-State Student-to-Counselor Ratio Maps by School District”. National Association for College Admission Counseling. https://www.nacacnet.org/globalassets/documents/publications/research/researchstateratiosreport.pdf
Clinedinst, M. & Patel, P. (2018). “State of College Admission”. National Association for College Admission Counseling. www.nacacnet.org/globalassets/documents/publications/research/2018_soca/soca18.pdf
Patel, P. (2018). “What States and Institutions Can Do for DREAMERS”. The Journal of College Admission. read.nxtbook.com/nacac/the_journal_of_college_admiss/spring_2018/#what_s_being_done_about_daca
Patel, P. (2017). “A Chance at Life: The Value of Legislative Action and Institutional Leadership for DACA Students”. New England Journal of Higher Education. www.nebhe.org/journal/a-chance-at-life-the-value-of-legislative-action-and-institutional-leadership-for-daca-students
Patel, P. (2017). “Are DACA Students Still Safe to Stay?” New England Journal of Higher Education. www.nebhe.org/thejournal/are-daca-students-still-safe-to-stay

Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations

Patel, P. R. & McCambly, H. (2024, April). Meaning-Making and Policy Design in a Federal Agency. Paper to be presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA.
Patel, P. R. (2024, February). “How Can We Help?”: The Role of Philanthropic Actors in State-Level Postsecondary Public Policy During a DEI Crisis. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Sociology of Education Association, Monterey Bay, CA.
Patel, P. R. (2023, November). “Changing the Conversation”: The Role of Philanthropy in State-Level Postsecondary Public Policy. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Minneapolis, MN.
Patel, P. R. (2023, April). Power of the Purse: Contextualizing the Role of Philanthropy in Postsecondary Public Policy Discourse. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
Patel, P. R. (2022, November). Power of the Purse: Philanthropic Foundations' Giving to Postsecondary Issues. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management, Washington, DC.
Mitic, R. & Patel, P. R. (2022, November). Examining Baccalaureate Degree Completion: The Role of Debt Load, First-Generation Status and Dependency Status. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Las Vegas, NV.
Patel, P. R. & Daché, A. (2021, November). Holes in the Story: Advancing Liberatory College Access within a Puerto Rican Housing Community. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, San Juan, PR.
Patel, P. R. (2021, October). College Promise and Making the Case for A Robust Federal-State Partnership. Interactive Symposium presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Council on Public Policy in Higher Education, Virtual Conference.
Patel, P. R. (2021, April). The Impact of Oregon Promise on Low-Income Student Enrollment. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, Virtual Conference.
Patel, P. R. & Bodnar, M. (2020, November). Faultlines in the (Master)Plan: State Policy Influences on California Higher Education Performance. Research presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Virtual Conference.
Patel, P. R. (2020, June). Impact of College Promise on Pell Enrollment. Research presented at the annual conference of the Student Financial Aid Research Network, Virtual Conference.
Patel, P. (2019, November). Mapping Student to School Counselor Ratios by School District. Research presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Portland, OR.
Patel, P. R. (2019, May). Mapping Student to School Counselor Ratios by School District. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Association for Institutional Research, Denver, CO.