Diana D. Lopez

Policy Research Fellow
UC Santa Cruz (BA), Stanford University (MA), UCLA (Ph.D. Student)

Diana D. Lopez is a Policy Research Fellow from Salinas, CA with a background in college access, student affairs, and university administration. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz and a master’s degree in Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies from Stanford University. Diana is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Higher Education & Organizational Change program at UCLA where she is also a Research Analyst at the Higher Education Research Institute.

Throughout the years, Diana has gravitated toward efforts to improve equitable access to quality higher education in California. During her undergraduate years, she worked and volunteered for various college access and retention programs. Her time at UC Santa Cruz sparked interests that continue to this day, including quantitative research methods and a desire to understand how educational systems work to facilitate or inhibit equitable college access.

During her time in graduate school, Diana has further developed her research skills and a deep-rooted commitment to issues of access to higher education for students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. Her research interests include broad-access institutions of higher education and the social and geographic contexts of college students. She looks forward to conducting research to inform policy during her time as a fellow for the Campaign for College Opportunity.