♥️ @aefpweb.bsky.social will always be my academic home, so it was truly a special honor to win this year’s Early Career Award! I can’t begin to thank every colleague, cheerleader, and mentor enough. At this point in my career, all I can say to anyone is: Do good work and be kind to others.

NEW ISSUE OUT NOW The Review of Higher Education 49.4, Summer 2026 #S2O #OpenAccess Project MUSE tiny.one/munj86h3 #S2O#OpenAccessONTRIBUTORS Taylor Odle Salomé Otero Khadejah Ray Janella D. Benson Rachelle Winkle-Wagner Bridget J. Goosby Radomir Ray Mitic Enyu Zhou Hironao Okahana and more

“What do you mean you’re working? Isn’t it summer??” 🫪🫪🫪

Loved working on this Chalkboard piece with a rockstar Ph.D. student @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social and @brookings.edu! We discuss insights from our new working paper on what pre-college advising programs actually move college-going at scale and explore some important design features. Check it out! 👇

TIL that some people do not plug their phone in when they go to sleep??

Speaking individually as a college access and financial aid expert, I’ll use a technical term to describe this headline: complete bullshit.

I'm encouraged by the growing focus on "data-informed" decisionmaking by institutions and their units. 🤩 I'm horrified by the growing misuse of data and a lack of basic data skills by those producing "insights" for such decisionmakers. 🥴

Just signed up for this @aefpweb.bsky.social session with @brhkim.bsky.social! Register here 👉 aefpweb.org/ev_calendar_...

Congratulations to all our #AEFP2026 Award Winners!

Congratulations to our #AEFP2026 Early Career Award winner!

Telling my amazing student to take a day off after wrapping up an R&R… 👏 but I don’t do that! Someone tell me, too 😅

Join us in congratulating @linzpage.bsky.social on her promotion to full professor! Her research on college access and student success is shaping policy and practice nationwide.

Edu policy peeps! I'm co-chairing the edu section for APPAM 2026 conference with @doughesm.bsky.social @taylorodle.bsky.social and @brittanyvasquez.bsky.social - if you would be interested in reviewing submissions, please let us know! We're aiming for about ~10 per reviewer. @appam.bsky.social

In case you missed it, IDS affiliate @taylorodle.bsky.social talked with Wisconsin Public Radio earlier this month about what the end of affirmative action means for enrollment of students of color in Wisconsin and what the state's schools should focus on moving forward. www.wpr.org/news/end-aff...

Postdocs and graduate students are particularly vulnerable to workplace bullying and harassment. Here’s what a few groups are doing about it. https://chroni.cl/4617QBq

📢 #EdWorkingPapers: @taylorodle.bsky.social & @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social evaluate Advise TN’s expansion across 33 communities and find the program increased college enrollment by 6%. 📄 Read more: edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1371

"Eliminating a graduate degree wage premium for teachers led to a 27% enrollment decline in education fields alone .... This drop subsequently reduced institutional tuition revenue and related state funding." @taylorodle.bsky.social edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1364

Congrats to IDS affiliate @taylorodle.bsky.social on making EdWeek's list of the top 200 education scholars in the U.S.! www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

All rankings have their pros and cons, but it was a very special surprise to be included this year! My goal has always been to do good work—and get that work into the hands of policymakers. | @edweek.org www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

Submitted a paper 41 days ago to an AERA journal—still "awaiting editor assignment." Please prioritize pre-tenure folks (and grad students)! 🫠

Does Free College “Work” for Adults? Enrollment Impacts of Michigan Reconnect journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3... "increased adult enrollment in community colleges by 38%, with larger gains among women and younger adults...entirely driven by growth in part-time students"

Hi folks attending #2025APPAM #APPAM2025! Excited to see many of you in Seattle this week. As usual, I am organizing a very informal happy hour for education policy folks at the conference to get together: Fri 11/14 starting at 6pm at Seattle Beer Co on Western Ave (~15 min walk from conference).

I better not see one more request in my inbox...

Just gonna drop this right here 😅 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

🍎🦡 I'm recruiting a PhD student in Ed Policy (fall '26) at @uwmadison.bsky.social! Come work with me on college access, admissions, & fin aid in our top-ranked, fully-funded program. I’m especially excited for this student to immediately join our direct admissions RCT team.

📢 New from the #EdWorkingPapers Policy and Practice Series: A summary of “Comparative Cost Analyses of Community College Student Success Initiatives” by @taylorodle.bsky.social! 📄 buff.ly/byZLKhG #AnnenbergEdExchange

🚨 Come join us in Ed Policy at @uwmadison.bsky.social! We're hiring an Asst/Assoc Prof studying the intersection of education and the environment. jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/assista...

In a @pbswisconsin.bsky.social interview, DSI Affiliate @taylorodle.bsky.social discusses the impacts of the Direct Admit Wisconsin and Wisconsin Guarantee programs on UW system admissions of WI high school students.

Watch: 📺 🖥️ 💻 📱 @uwmadison.bsky.social educational policy professor @taylorodle.bsky.social describes the impacts of the Direct Admit Wisconsin and Wisconsin Guarantee programs on UW system admissions of high school students from the state.

Enjoyed chatting with @pbswisconsin.bsky.social about UW's Direct Admit program / The Wisconsin Guarantee, my work on direct admissions, and early fall enrollment figures. @uwmadison.bsky.social pbswisconsin.org/watch/here-a...

IDS affiliate @taylorodle.bsky.social talked with @pbswisconsin.bsky.social about Direct Admit programs at the Universities of WI, and how they're making college more accessible to qualified low-income students, students of color, and those from rural backgrounds. pbswisconsin.org/news-item/ta...

🏆 Nominate a student (or yourself) for the @aeraedresearch.bsky.social @aeradivjgradnet.bsky.social Dissertation Award! Deadline is Nov 1.

📢 #EdWorkingPapers: What do community college success programs really cost? @taylorodle.bsky.social presents the first comparative cost analyses of 6 common initiatives, finding costs range from $570 to $1,320 per student, with wide variation in reach. 📄 Full paper here: buff.ly/LfYRaWo

“…the most innovative college access program in the nation.” Aww, shucks — thanks, @completecollege.bsky.social! 🤗 || @uwmadscience.bsky.social @harvardeducation.bsky.social @luminafoundation.bsky.social @bloombergdotorg.bsky.social @kresge.org

🚨 We're excited to launch TN Direct Admissions, the nation's first program to simplify college admissions + financial aid! Our pilot will provide students upfront college admissions offers alongside personalized commitments of financial aid—no applications, no fees, no BS.

Y’all 👏 15 nuggets from @tacobell.bsky.social (just drink A LOT of water 😂)

"The UW system just started automatically accepting students. How's that going?" 🙅‍♂️ Not well because the program requires students *and* their high schools to opt-in (even by May 1 of their *junior* year)! Make everyone eligible—and address costs of attendance while you're at it!

Top-tier journal: “Great paper! Right on the margin for us. Would do very well at X [2nd-tier].” Second-tier X: “This is the worst paper we’ve ever read. Super reject.” I referee the worst papers (and have trouble placing my own) in 2nd-tier outlets. First, third, or bust.

UW-Madison Ed Policy PhD student Sky Duke presenting a new predictive model and typology for identifying and classifying institutions that propel low-income student outcomes! 👏 #AERA2025

AERA Undergrad Fellow and UW-Madison/WCER rockstar Shelby Jantz presenting her work at #AERA2025! 👏 Watch out for her — headed to Northwestern SESP this fall!

Anyone looking to do an APPAM panel rather than a single listing @taylorodle.bsky.social ???

Students come to me all the time with these kinds of stories. Too many in our field either perpetrate these acts themselves or tolerate them. It should be a great shame for the academy.

I’ve been bullied and exploited by a senior scholar since I was an early PhD student and am now helping guide more junior folks experiencing the same across our field. In 2028, I’ll be tenured or not—and, either way, it’s going to be a rough year for them. This has to stop.

AERA has just learned that all restricted-use NCES data licenses will be cancelled, possibly as early as March 20. We urgently request that all AERA members and others in the research community with restricted-use licenses take these two actions: www.aera.net/Research-Pol...

Any ED, IES, and related friends who are willing to (even anonymously) speak with reporters, please DM me. Folks want to hear from you!

How can one simultaneously (1) direct the Secretary to cycle down ED and distribute its functions while (2) needing ED to complete neg reg [a 1-2 year process] and then (presumably) implement those rules? 🤔

Great talking to Danielle at @washingtonpost.com about the rapid growth in direct admissions, what we know, and where to go! Check out her piece and stay tuned for some exciting news on the next evolution of these programs (coming soon!). @uwmadison.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

🚨 New paper with @jwrightkim.bsky.social and Beto Castrejón (my rockstar PhD student - his first pub!) in The Journal of Higher Ed. doi.org/10.1080/0022...