The Education Policy Center at The University of Alabama

Welcome to the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama

The Education Policy Center, in support of the missions of the University and the College of Education, will inform and improve policy-making and practice, and our understanding of the roles education plays in a free and equitable society, through a coordinated program of basic and applied research, topical and historical analyses of education-related issues, and services for educational practitioners and policy-makers in the State of Alabama and beyond.

The Education Policy Center conducts research, engages with local communities and policy makers, and provides policy-related analysis in support of the educational objectives of access, equity, and academic achievement, particularly as they are realized in public schools, community and technical colleges, and four-year colleges and universities. It is our objective to contribute, through the work of the Center, to educational reform movements that will in turn increase democratic participation, civic engagement, and, ultimately, social justice.

Projects of Interest

The Impact of the New Pell Restrictions on Community Colleges:
3 State Study-AL, AR, MS

Mississippi Pell Report-"Pell Grants Vital Role in Lifting Up Mississippi"

Alabama Pell Report

New Allocation Formula Funding-Alabama

Workforce Training in a Recovering Economy 2012
(Click to see Report)

News Articles
Pell Grant Restrictions Hurt Enrollment at Community Colleges in the South-The Chronicle
Pell Grant Changes Drop Enrollments in Mississippi Community Colleges-McClatchey Washington Bureau

"Pell Grant Restrictions Hurt Mississippi Students"-Mississippi Public Broadcasting
Two-Year Colleges Help Meet Employers' Growing Needs-Tuscaloosanews.com
Community Colleges Call Job Training An "Underfunded Mandate"-The Huffington Post

The primary focus of the Education Policy Center is to study these areas:

The use of historical , philosophical, economic, and social analyses to inform educational and social policy

The impact of federal funding as a catalyst for change in schools and society

The relationship between economic inequality, race, gender, and sexual orientation bias, and school failure

Pedagogical and curricular reform and innovation

The relationship between the political economy, schooling, and the prison industrial complex

Community empowerment and democratic reform efforts

Education Policy Center Staff

Dr. Stephen G. Katsinas

Director, Education Policy Center and Professor, Higher Education Administration
(205) 348- 2470
skatsina@bamaed.ua.edu

Dr. Wayne Urban

Associate Director, Education Policy Center and Professor, Higher Education
(205) 348-5187
wurban@bamaed.ua.edu

Dr. Richard L. Rice, Jr.

Director, UA Superintendents’ Academy
(205) 348-1163
rrice@bamaed.ua.edu

Senior Fellows

Mary Allen Jolley
Vincent Lacey
R. Frank Mensel
Pat G. Moeck

David S. Murphy
Robert P. Pedersen
James "Skip" Dotherow
John E. Petrovic