Michelle Hodara directs research and evaluation projects related to postsecondary access and success and provides technical assistance to postsecondary institutions and systems. Michelle has more than a decade of experience researching and evaluating programs and policies that seek to improve college enrollment and completion outcomes among historically underserved students. Michelle is trained in quantitative methods and brings expertise in linking and analyzing data to determine what supports students need to successfully navigate the education and workforce pipeline. She has researched a variety of high-priority topics in postsecondary education, including the labor market returns to developmental education, community college to university transfer, and financial aid. She currently leads the evaluation and learning community of the ECMC Foundation’s Basic Needs Initiative. Michelle holds a doctorate in economics and education from Columbia University, Teachers College. Before earning her doctorate, she was a special education teacher in Zuni, New Mexico, and a developmental education instructor at the University of New Mexico-Gallup, a two-year college. As a former classroom teacher, Michelle is passionate about conducting practitioner-oriented research that supports efforts to improve the educational outcomes of all students.

She is the author of many research studies focused on postsecondary access and success, including:

• What Were the Reach and Impact of the Oregon Promise Financial Aid Program in Its First Two Years?
• Career and Technical Education in Oregon: Exploring Who Participates in High School and the Outcomes They Achieve
• Supporting the Transition to College: Accelerated Learning Access, Outcomes, and Credit Transfer in Oregon
• Earning College Credits in High School: Options, Participation, and Outcomes for Oregon Students
• How Well Does High School Grade Point Average Predict College Performance by Student Urbanicity and Timing of College Entry?
• Developmental Education and College Readiness at the University of Alaska
• What Predicts Participation in Developmental Education among Recent High School Graduates at Community College? Lessons from Oregon
• Improving Students' College Math Readiness: A Review of the Evidence on Postsecondary Interventions and Reforms
• Exploring Credit Mobility and Major-Specific Pathways: A Policy Analysis and Student Perspective on Community College to University Transfer
• Does Developmental Education Improve Labor Market Outcomes? Evidence from Two States
• An Examination of the Impact of Accelerating Community College Students' Progression through Developmental Education
• The Effects of English as a Second Language Courses on Language Minority Community College Students