Deborah A. Santiago

Vice President for Policy and Research, Excelencia in Education

Deborah A. Santiago, is the co-founder and Vice President for Policy and Research at Excelencia in Education and brings her extensive experience in education policy and research to the challenge of accelerating Latino student success.

Among her experiences, Deborah has worked in federal policy as an analyst at the Congressional Research Service and the U.S. Department of Education, where she led components of the Department’s reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, participated in evaluations of national higher education programs, and was responsible for developing the agency’s initial budget for student financial aid programs. She also worked with federal agencies to evaluate how their programs served Latinos and produced multiple reports on the status of Latinos in education as the Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Her community work has included program design and implementation for the ASPIRA Association and translating data for community engagement as the Vice President for Research and Data at the Los Angeles Alliance for Student Achievement.

Her current research focuses on state and federal policy, accountability, program evaluation, and student success in higher education. Recent publications include, “How Latino Students Pay for College: Patterns of Financial Aid,” and “Modeling Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs): Campus Practice that Work for Latino Students.” She serves on the editorial board of the Enrollment Management Journal and the board of directors for DCVoice. Deborah has a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in urban affairs, and studies for her doctorate degree in education policy.

Email: dsantiago@edexcelencia.org