William Doyle 
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Higher Education | Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN, UNITED STATES
An expert on how geography affects higher education attainment and the state of the financial aid system in America.
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Biography
Will Doyle is co-author of College Affordability Diagnosis, a state-by-state look at the cost of higher education. His research includes evaluating the impact of higher education policy at the state level and political behavior as it affects higher education. He examines how geography affects higher education attainment and the impact of a college degree on earnings and civic engagement, including philanthropy and voting. Prior to joining Vanderbilt, he was Senior Policy Analyst at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Areas of Expertise (18)
borrowing trends
Undergraduate Education
Borrowing for College
College Affordability
Higher Education Access
Higher Education Finances
College Debt
University Rankings
Politics of Higher Education
Higher Education Policy
Student Access and Success in Higher Education
Drop Out Rates
College Affordability by State
Higher Education
Community Colleges
loan aversion
Financial Aid and Scholarships in Higher Education
Financial Aid
Accomplishments (3)
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award for contributions to literature on financial aid (professional)
2014
Scholarly Paper Award, Journal of Education Finance. Article: “State spending on higher education: Testing the balance wheel over time”, co-authored with Jennifer Delaney (professional)
2012
AERA Outstanding Reviewer Award: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (professional)
2007
Education (4)
Stanford University: Ph.D., Higher Education 2004
Stanford University: M.A., Political Science 2004
Villanova University: B.A., Philosophy 2000
Villanova University: B.A., Liberal Arts 1996
Affiliations (3)
- Association for the Study of Higher Education
- Association for Education Finance and Policy
- NYU Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy Fellow
Links (4)
Selected Media Appearances (10)
Reshaping the Federal Role in Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed online
2021-09-17
This week’s episode dissects Congressional legislation that would eliminate tuition at community colleges and alter the relationship between the federal and state governments.
Higher Education’s Nightmare Scenario
The Chronicle of Higher Education online
2020-10-12
Public colleges face two crises: the impact of Covid-19 on their operations and a downturn in state funding brought on by the current recession. And based on what state budget offices are saying, the funding problem for higher education is about to get a lot worse. Without action by the federal government, higher education in most states will be facing severe cuts, very likely larger than those incurred during the recession of 2008-9. There has already been a large contraction in our industry’s work force, and state systems are feeling the pain: In Pennsylvania, for instance, a plan to lay off approximately 350 faculty members has reportedly been expedited. All of that may merely be prelude to a looming, historic decline in the sector. There is time to act, but the window is closing. Academic leaders are planning now for unprecedented cuts.
40 years later, landmark Emory gift remains call to public service
Atlanta Journal-Constitution online
2020-02-22
“It’s really dramatically unequal,” said Will Doyle, a Vanderbilt University higher education professor who’s done research on the topic. “The places that have the most money get the most money.”
‘Tennessee Promise’ offers free community college or technical school education
MSNBC tv
2019-05-23
NBC News’ Anne Thompson reports on a lottery-funded program in Tennessee that offers free community college or technical school tuition to students, regardless of income.
Nashville Mayor David Briley proposes $1 million investment to boost college graduation rates
The Tennessean print
2018-12-05
But in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods, college attainment rates remain woefully low despite some increases in recent years, according to a data analysis by the USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee in partnership with Vanderbilt University researcher Will Doyle.
How Tennessee educators are learning to address race and its impacts on college achievement
Tennessean online
2018-11-12
“Minority students at every step face discrimination, and providing additional supports prior to and while they’re in higher education to alleviate the impacts of that discrimination is one of the ways to get to where we need to go," said Vanderbilt University professor Will Doyle. “That stuff isn’t free.”
Why Many College Dropouts Are Returning to School in North Carolina
The Atlantic online
2018-10-25
“This isn’t a solution at the scale that the state would see big increases in the proportion of people attending higher education,” William Doyle, a professor of higher education at Vanderbilt University, told me. It’s a valiant start, he says, but equally important is making sure that college is affordable for students where they live. That’s because nearly 60 percent of incoming freshmen at four-year public colleges attend schools within 50 miles of their permanent residence. For this solution to have a broad effect on college-going culture, it will need to be available at more schools.
Free Tuition? Tennessee Could Tutor New York
The New York Times print
2017-05-24
“In many ways, it’s a good model in terms of how much work you have to do in terms of implementation to get this to work,” said William Doyle, an associate professor of public policy and higher education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. “The messaging, the branding, the community outreach.”
Would axing a loan-forgiveness program narrow options for graduates?
The Christian Science Monitor online
2017-05-24
The debt burden is actually a symptom of a bigger problem of the increasing price of college, notes William Doyle, professor of public policy and higher education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. And though it’s a laudable goal to think that some people will go into public sector jobs because of a program like this, he says, it’s reasonable to question whether that should even be one of the federal government’s goals.
The new North-South divide: public higher education
The Hechinger Report
2016-08-25
This amounts to “spending on students that are going to college anyway,” said William Doyle, a professor of public policy and higher education at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, who studies college affordability. “You’ve got a set of states that have spent a lot time and money on solving the wrong problems.”
Selected Articles (3)
Patterns and volatility in state funding for higher education, 1951-2006
Teachers College RecordJennifer A Delaney, William R Doyle
2018 Numerous studies have addressed the determinants of higher education appropriations. Extending prior studies that only consider the relationship between higher education and one other state budget category, Delaney and Doyle develop and test an empirical model of the relationship between higher education and all other budget categories.
Does postsecondary education result in civic benefits?
The Journal of Higher EducationWilliam R Doyle, Benjamin T Skinner
2017 Public support for higher education depends in part on the idea that additional postsecondary education results in civic benefits including voting, volunteering, and donating to non-profit causes. We expanded on the literature on civic benefits of higher education by utilizing a rich set of location-based instruments to identify the relationship between additional postsecondary education and civic behaviors.
Impact of community college student debt levels on credit accumulation
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceDominique J Baker, William R Doyle
2017 Most community college students do not borrow to pay for their education. However, in recent years more students are borrowing and, when they borrow, accumulating large amounts of debt. To help clarify whether increased debt burdens are aiding community college students or harming them, we explore the impact of borrowing on academic credit hour accumulation.
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