Jennifer Engle is a research professor and director of policy and strategy at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW). Prior to joining CEW, Dr. Engle was a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Education where she led the Raise the Bar: Attaining College Equity and Excellence initiative focused on implementing data- and evidence-based strategies to improve postsecondary outcomes. As part of this initiative, Dr. Engle led the development of the new Postsecondary Success Recognition Program, which identified colleges and universities supporting students from underserved populations to earn credentials of value that lead to economic mobility.
A noted national expert and leader in the field, Dr. Engle has focused throughout her career on improving postsecondary access, affordability, completion, and value for underserved students. Her professional passion comes from her personal experience as the first in her family to go to college. At the Gates Foundation, Dr. Engle was the founding director of the U.S Program Data team – and served as a deputy director on the Postsecondary Success team – where her work focused on improving the quality and use of data across the education-to-workforce pipeline to implement reforms that equitably improve outcomes. While at the Gates Foundation, she also led the Postsecondary Value Commission, which engaged leading experts in the field to develop a framework to define and measure equitable post-college outcomes for all students. From the Institute for Higher Education Policy to the Education Trust to the Pell Institute, Dr. Engle has focused on generating and deploying data and evidence to call attention to and close equity disparities in education.
Dr. Engle received her M.A. and Ph.D. in education from American University.