William Doyle

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Higher Education Vanderbilt University

  • Nashville TN

An expert on how geography affects higher education attainment and the state of the financial aid system in America.

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Vanderbilt University

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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

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

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award for contributions to literature on financial aid

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

2012

AERA Outstanding Reviewer Award: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

2007

Education

Stanford University

Ph.D.

Higher Education

2004

Stanford University

M.A.

Political Science

2004

Villanova University

B.A.

Philosophy

2000

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Affiliations

  • Association for the Study of Higher Education
  • Association for Education Finance and Policy
  • NYU Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy Fellow

Selected Media Appearances

Have Americans Actually Lost Faith in Higher Education?

Inside Higher Ed  online

2024-09-24

Although his reasons were slightly different from Brickman’s, William Doyle, a professor of higher education and public policy at Vanderbilt University, agreed that “there’s every reason to be concerned about the decline in confidence in higher education.” He noted that the decline in enrollment has been greater than what might be expected strictly as a result of the shrinking population of traditional-aged students.

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College Uncovered: Half Off Full Price

The Hechinger Report  radio

2024-04-18

As they struggle to fill seats, universities on average dole out more than half of the revenue they collect from tuition in the form of discounts and financial aid.

If a private company discounted its products by more than half, it would be out of business. It’s an incredibly self-destructive model, but no one seems willing to be the first to stop doing it.

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As enrollment falls and public skepticism grows, some colleges are cutting their prices

The Hechinger Report  online

2022-11-25

“There was a time when colleges and universities could price with impunity, when there was always sufficient demand that they could raise what they charged and be sure that people were going to find a way to pay,” said Will Doyle, a professor of higher education and chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development. “But that time appears to be over.”

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Selected Articles

Patterns and volatility in state funding for higher education, 1951-2006

Teachers College Record

Jennifer 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.

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Does postsecondary education result in civic benefits?

The Journal of Higher Education

William 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.

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Impact of community college student debt levels on credit accumulation

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

Dominique 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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