She earned her Ed.D. in higher education leadership at Central Michigan University, where she earned her M.A. and B.S. degrees; she also earned an A.S. degree from Mid Michigan Community College. Prior to joining WMU, Garza Mitchell was associate vice president for student learning at Texas State Technical College Harlingen and adjunct faculty member at Texas Tech University. She has worked in higher education for over 15 years in the areas of educational leadership, student learning, online learning, distance education, and faculty development.