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Dr. Xiaodan Hu is an associate professor in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Her research focuses on postsecondary finance and policy on college access and success, with a focus on educational equity in community colleges. She has designed and led or co-led funded research projects from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Dual Enrollment Research Fund. She has also published in prestigious journals, including Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Researcher, American Educational Research Journal, AERA Open, The Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Educational Policy, and Community College Review.

Dr. Hu earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Policy from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education from Texas A&M University. Prior to joining the faculty at SMU, she previously was an associate professor in higher education and coordinator of the Community College Leadership Ed.D. Program at Northern Illinois University. She currently teaches graduate courses in public policy and finance in higher education.

Research

Select Funded Awards

The effects of completing college-level courses in high school on postsecondary outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2024-2027. Co-Principal Investigator. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES). $722,951.

A mixed-methods case study of the influence of Texas’ Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) Program on dual enrollment participation and academic momentum. 2024-2026. Co-Principal Investigator. Dual Enrollment Research Fund. $160,000.

A head start to college: Does dual enrollment equalize students’ academic and labor market success in STEM? 2022-2025. Principal Investigator. American Educational Research Association. $35,000.

Merit-based aid and (in)equality: Examining variation in policy and effects on social mobility. 2021-24. Principal Investigator. William T. Grant Foundation. $50,000.

Select Publications

Hu, X., & Chan, H.-Y. (2024). Preparing for the STEM pathways? Dual enrollment and college major choice in STEM. The Journal of Higher Education, 95(5), 607-638. (2022 IF: 1.6)

Hu, X. (2023). Using ordinary least squares in higher education research: A primer. In Perna, L. W. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (vol. 39). Springer.

Hu, X., & Fernandez, F. (2023). An ADVANCE for whom? A national study of initiatives to improve faculty gender equity. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, advance online publication.

Hu, X., Ortagus, J. C., Voorhees, N. C., Rosinger, K., & Kelchen, R. (2022). Disparate impacts of performance funding research incentives on research expenditures and state appropriations. AERA Open.

Hu, X., Fernandez, F., & Gándara, D. (2021). Are donations bigger in Texas? Analyzing the impact of a policy to match donations to Texas’ emerging research universities. American Educational Research Journal, 58(4), 850-882. (2021 IF: 4.503)

Hu, X., & Villarreal, P. (2019). Public tuition on the rise: Estimating the effects of Louisiana’s performance-based funding policy on institutional tuition levels. Research in Higher Education, 60(5), 636-669.

Ortagus, J. C., & Hu, X. (2019). The price of mission complexity: A national study of the impact of community college baccalaureate adoption on tuition and fees. Educational Researcher, 48(8), 504-520.