Margarita Benítez

Senior Associate, Excelencia in Education

Dr. Benítez brings to Excelencia substantial experience and a particular focus on minority-serving institutions, gained from her years as a college president (1985-94), as a member of the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (1990-1996), as a senior official in the Office of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education (1998-2003), as an advisor to the President of the University of Puerto Rico system since 2003, and a senior associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy since 2005. Currently she works with The Education Trust in the Access to Success Initiative, a partnership designed to improve student success and to close by at least half the gaps in both college-going and college completion that separate low income and underrepresented minority students from other students.

Email: mbenitez@edexcelencia.org