Rong Chen, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Director of Higher Education Programs
College of Human Development Culture and Media

Rong Chen teaches courses related to public policy in higher education, research design, statistical methods and survey analysis. Her major research interest areas focus on education policy, finance of higher education, college access, choice and degree attainment, STEM education, educational equity and international higher education. Chen's recent research projects include studies of STEM major choice, impact of financial aid on education opportunity, role of institutions in improving college student degree attainment, undergraduate debt burden and its impact on post-college outcomes and internationalization of the American faculty. She has published articles in Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education and Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research.

Chen has been serving as the director of the Higher Education Graduate Programs since 2023, a position she previously held from 2013 to 2016. She earned her doctorate in higher education from the University of Michigan, and previously served as a faculty member at Beijing International Study University in China. Chen has received research grants from the Spencer Foundation, American Educational Research Association (AERA)/Association for Institutional Research (AIR), and has been selected as a National Academy of Education (NAE)/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow. She serves on the editorial board of Research in Higher Education, as well as the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success.