Jennifer A. Delaney is a Professor in the School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Delaney’s research investigates higher education finance questions with public policy importance. She uses advanced statistical techniques on large scale datasets with an emphasis on quasi-experimental designs. Her scholarship has fallen into two broad categories: higher education finance and higher education policy, admissions, and public support. Intertwining these two areas of scholarship, her work addresses public policy in higher education across institutional, state, federal, and international levels of analysis. She has made both empirical and theoretical contributions to the field. Her scholarship has provided evidence of effective (and ineffective) public policies. She has also developed conceptual models that scholars, policymakers, and institutional leaders use to think about the ways in which higher education is funded. Additionally, she has investigated the meaning of these investments as they relate to broader social aims of education within democratic systems of governance.
Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Dr. Delaney was a tenured Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was also the Director of the Forum on the Future of Public Education and Director of the Higher Education Program. At the University of Illinois, she was also an affiliate and collaborating scholar with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs and the Center for Social and Behavioral Science. She served in recurring half year appointments as a Visiting Associate Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago from 2015 and 2021. In addition, she was an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison from 2007 to 2009.
Dr. Delaney was also a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education serving as the gubernatorially appointed public university faculty representative on the board between 2019 and 2023. Previously, she worked for the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, and served as a consultant for the Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
Her latest book is Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education. This edited volume focuses on how much volatility there is in the fiscal relationship between states and institutions of higher education, and addresses some of the consequences of this uncertainty. Her first book, The External Social Benefits of Higher Education, co-edited with Walter W. McMahon, explored the underlying rationales for public support of higher education. This work argues that by providing careful documentation of the social benefits of higher education, a strong case can be made for governmental support of the sector.
She currently serves on editorial boards with the following journals: Journal of Education Finance, Journal of Student Financial Aid, Research in Higher Education, and the Review of Higher Education. Between 2017 and 2019, she was an associate editor of Educational Researcher, and AERA Journal.
Publications
BOOKS
Delaney, J. A. (Ed.) (2023). Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education. American Educational Research Association Publications.
McMahon, W. W., & Delaney, J. A. (Eds.) (2022). The External Social Benefits of Higher Education. Linton-Atlantic Press.
PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES (since 2015)
Delaney, J. A., Trinh, T. M., & Odle, T. K. (2023). Direct admissions: Policies and principles. College & University, 98(3), 75-80.
Delaney, J. A., & Hemenway, B. (2023). A difference-in-difference analysis of shifts in postsecondary institution spending patterns in response to “promise” financial aid programs. Educational Policy, 37(4), 1102–1150.
Delaney, J. A. & Kearney, T.D. (2022). TV networks for college sports: Implications for institutional subsidies. Research in High Education, 63, 1158–1203.
Odle, T. K. & Delaney, J. A. (2022). You are admitted! Early evidence on enrollment from Idaho’s direct admissions system. Research in Higher Education, 63, 899-932.
McMahon, W. W. & Delaney, J. A. (2021). The external social benefits of higher education: Introduction to this special issue. Journal of Education Finance, 46(4), 387-397.
Doyle, W. R., Dziesinski, A. B., & Delaney, J. A. (2021). Modeling volatility in public funding for higher education. Journal of Education Finance, 46(4), 563-591.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2020). A difference-in-difference analysis of "promise" financial aid programs on postsecondary institutions. Journal of Education Finance, 45(4), 459-492.
Delaney, J. A., Bell, E., & Soler, M. C. (2019). Perceptions of income share agreements: Evidence from a public opinion survey. Journal of Education Finance, 45(1), 97-122.
Delaney, J. A. & Doyle, W. R. (2018). Patterns and volatility in state funding for higher education, 1951-2006. Teachers College Record, 120(6), 1-42.
Delaney, J. A. & Dharmapala, D. (2017). 'Pay it Forward' and higher education subsidies: A median voter model. Contemporary Economic Policy, 35(4), 615-629.
Delaney, J. A. (2016). Interactions between federal academic earmarks and state funding for higher education: An instrumental variables approach. Journal of Education Finance, 41(1), 49-78.
Delaney, J. A. & Kearney, T. D. (2016). Alternative student-based revenue streams for higher education institutions: A difference-in-difference analysis using guaranteed tuition policies. Journal of Higher Education, 87(5), 731-769.
Delaney, J. A., Kearney, T. D., & Hemenway, B. (2016). Balancing tuition predictability and affordability: The pitfalls of guaranteed tuition plans. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 48(2), 59-66.
Yu, P. & Delaney, J. A. (2016). The spread of higher education around the globe: A cross-country analysis of gross tertiary education enrollment, 1999-2005. Educational Policy, 16(30), 281-321.
Delaney, J. A. & Kearney, T. D. (2015). Guaranteed tuition policies and state general appropriations for higher education: A difference-in-difference analysis. Journal of Education Finance, 40(4), 359-390.
Delaney, J. A. & Kearney, T. D. (2015). The impact of guaranteed tuition policies on postsecondary tuition levels: A difference-in-difference approach. Economics of Education Review, 47, 80-99.
BOOK CHAPTERS (since 2015)
Delaney, J. A. (2023). “Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education: An Introduction” In Delaney, J. A. (Ed.) Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education. American Educational Research Association Publications.
Doyle, W. R. & Delaney, J. A. (2023). “Recovery from Cuts: State Spending for Higher Education” In Delaney, J. A. (Ed.) Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education. American Educational Research Association Publications.
Delaney, J. A. (2023). “Conclusion: The Need for Future Research on Volatility in State Support for Higher Education” In Delaney, J. A. (Ed.) Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education. American Educational Research Association Publications.
Delaney, J. A & Odle, T. K. (2022). “Direct Admissions: Proactively Pushing Students into College” In Bastedo, M. & Poon, O. (Eds.) Research-Informed Practices in College Admissions. Harvard University Press.
McMahon, W. W. & Delaney, J. A. (2022). “The external social benefits of higher education: Introduction” In McMahon, W. W., & Delaney, J. A. (Eds.) The External Social Benefits of Higher Education. Linton-Atlantic Press.
Doyle, W. R., Dziesinski, A. B., & Delaney, J. A. (2022). “Modeling volatility in public funding for higher education” In McMahon, W. W., & Delaney, J. A. (Eds.) The External Social Benefits of Higher Education. Linton-Atlantic Press.
McMahon, W. W. & Delaney, J. A. (2022). “Conclusion: Insights on existing and new social benefits of higher education and on topics in need of future research” In McMahon, W. W., & Delaney, J. A. (Eds.) The External Social Benefits of Higher Education. Linton-Atlantic Press.
Delaney, J. A. & Leigh, E. (2019). “A promising trend? An event history analysis of factors associated with establishing single-institution college promise programs” In Perna, L. W. and Smith, E. (Eds). Improving Research-Based Knowledge of College Promise Programs (p. 269-301). American Educational Research Association Publications.
MONOGRAPHS, POLICY BRIEFS, AND TESTIMONY (since 2015)
Odle, T. K., Magouirk, P., Delaney, J. A. (October 23, 2023). Complex applications create barriers to college — some are trying to change that. The Brown Center Chalkboard, Brookings Institution.
Delaney, J. A. & Doyle, W. R. (2023). “State and federal partnerships for college affordability: Assessing the options.” In Paving the path to debt-free college, The Institute for College Access and Success.
Merriman, D., Wilson, R. F., & Delaney, J. A. (2020). Illinois higher education enrollment during recessions. Institute of Government and Public Affairs Report and University of Illinois College of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 21-18.
Delaney, J. A. & Odle, T. K. (2020). Reducing red tape through simplification: How Idaho radically reimagined college admissions. Policy and Practice Brief. Hack the Gates/ACCEPT/RISE Center at Colorado State University.
Delaney, J. A., González Canché, M. S., & Odle, T. K. (2019). Direct admissions: A promising low-cost policy innovation to increase college access and equity: Summary report. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Forum on the Future of Public Education, University of Illinois.
Delaney, J. A., González Canché, M. S., & Odle, T. K. (2019). Direct admissions: Investing in a promising, low-cost policy innovation to increase college access & equity. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Forum on the Future of Public Education, University of Illinois.
Delaney, J. A., González Canché, M. S., & Odle, T. K. (2019). Direct admissions: A promising low-cost policy innovation to increase college access and equity: Midwest report. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Forum on the Future of Public Education, University of Illinois.
Delaney, J. A. (June 16, 2015). College affordability in Illinois. Testimony prepared for the Illinois General Assembly, Senate Committee of the Whole. Springfield, IL.
Professional Experience
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, College of Education; Champaign, IL
Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
Professor (with tenure), 8/23 to 12/23
Higher Education Program Director, 12/21 to 8/23
Associate Professor (with tenure), 8/15 to 7/23
Assistant Professor, 8/09 to 8/15
Illinois Board of Higher Education
Member (gubernatorially appointed), 8/19 to 12/23
Executive Committee Member, 9/19 to 12/23
Faculty Advisory Committee Liaison, 9/19 to 12/23
University of Illinois, Institute of Government and Public Affairs; Champaign, IL
Collaborating Scholar, 8/21 to 12/23
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Center for Social and Behavioral Science
Affiliate, 5/22 to 12/23
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, College of Education; Champaign, IL Forum on the Future of Public Education
Director, 11/16 to 8/23
Faculty Fellow, 9/12 to 8/16
University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy; Chicago, IL
Recurring visits, 8/15 to 6/21
University of Wisconsin at Madison, School of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis; Madison, WI
Assistant Professor, 8/07 to 8/09
Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education Scholar, 8/07 to 8/09
Professional Affiliations
- American Educational Research Association
- Association for Education Finance and Policy
- Association for the Study of Higher Education
- National Education Finance Academy
- UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab
Specializations
Higher Education; Higher Education Finance; Public Policy and Higher Education
Cluster
Policy, Politics, and Leadership
