She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Research and Policy Analysis (Higher Education) at North Carolina State University and completed her postdoctoral appointment at the University of Georgia's Institute of Higher Education. She was the recipient of an Association for Institutional Research (AIR) grant for her dissertation “Assisting Students in the College Choice Process: Three Essays on the Role and Effectiveness of College Advising Professionals in Public High Schools.” Additionally, she served as the Editorial Assistant for the Journal of Higher Education for the past two years. She previously has worked in the college access field, including Undergraduate Admissions at Virginia Tech and TRIO Upward Bound at Roanoke College.