She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology from the University of Georgia. She teaches classes on racial stratification, social theory and the sociology of education. Her research interests are in the area of higher education, with a focus on college student persistence and retention across race, class and gender, with special emphasis on post-college student experiences that increase student social and academic integration. She has published in the Journal of Higher Education, Symbolic Interaction and the Journal of African American Studies.