“One of the top 50 people shaping American politics” will visit Eastern Kentucky University on Thursday, Sept. 7, to discuss her efforts to reduce socioeconomic and racial inequalities in the collegiate sphere.
Best-selling author Sara Goldrick-Rab will address “The Transformation of Higher Education: The New Economics of College and Their Consequences” at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Whitlock Building. The lecture, free and open to the public, is the first installment in the 2017-18 Chautauqua series, themed “Transformations.”
Goldrick-Rab is the author of the esteemed “Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream.” The Amazon best-seller has been praised on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” the “New York Review of Books” and “CSPAN’s Book TV.”
Her name was well known in the world of post-secondary education long before the publication of her book, as she is the founder of the Wisconsin Hope Lab, the nation’s only translational research laboratory seeking ways to make college more affordable.
With a doctoral degree in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, Goldrick-Rab has performed more than a dozen studies in which she has examined the efficacy of financial aid policies, welfare reform and interventions aimed at increasing college attainment among marginalized populations.
In 2013, she was invited to testify before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, chaired by Senators Tom Harkin and Lamar Alexander.
It was that work that led to “Politico Magazine” including her in its 2016 list of the top 50 people shaping American politics.
The Goldrick-Rab lecture will be sponsored by the EKU President’s Office.
For more information about the Chautauqua lecture series, visit www.chautauqa.eku.eduor contact Chautauqua Lecture Coordinator Erik Liddell at erik.liddell@eku.edu.