Cecilia Marie Orphan
Associate Professor
What I do
I am interested in understanding how higher education contributes to a strong, functioning democracy and advances racial and social equity.Specialization(s)
Public Policy and Finance, Organizational Governance and Academic Administration, Regional Public Universities, Higher Education and Democracy, Rural Serving Postsecondary Institutions, and the Privatization of Higher Education
Professional Biography
Cecilia Orphan, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Higher Education at the University of Denver and Director of Partnerships for the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges. In April, 2022, Dr. Orphan was a TEDxMileHigh and her talk, “What makes a ‘good college’ - and why it matters” has received over 1.3 million views.
Dr. Orphan’s research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the Ascendium Education Group, Arnold Ventures, the ECMC Foundation, and the Joyce Foundation. She has been quoted by CBS, NBC, Slate Magazine, ProPublica, The Chronicle for Higher Education, InsideHigherEd, Open Campus, NPR’s Code Switch, and Newsy, among other media outlets. She has published her in several leading education journals including The Review of Higher Education, The Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, and Higher Education, as well as in public-facing venues including Third Way and the Scholars Strategy Network in the hopes of influencing policy.
Dr. Orphan's research agenda is informed by her experiences as a working class, first-generation college student who received maximum Pell grants to attend college. She is personally familiar with the transformative nature of access institutions having attended Linn Benton Community College and Portland State University, a regional public university in Oregon. Simply put, attending these institutions changed the trajectory of her life and she believes in the power of access institutions to promote racial and economic justice and democracy. Dr. Orphan holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Portland State University. From 2006-2011, she directed the American Democracy Project, a national civic engagement initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Dr. Orphan’s research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the Ascendium Education Group, Arnold Ventures, the ECMC Foundation, and the Joyce Foundation. She has been quoted by CBS, NBC, Slate Magazine, ProPublica, The Chronicle for Higher Education, InsideHigherEd, Open Campus, NPR’s Code Switch, and Newsy, among other media outlets. She has published her in several leading education journals including The Review of Higher Education, The Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, and Higher Education, as well as in public-facing venues including Third Way and the Scholars Strategy Network in the hopes of influencing policy.
Dr. Orphan's research agenda is informed by her experiences as a working class, first-generation college student who received maximum Pell grants to attend college. She is personally familiar with the transformative nature of access institutions having attended Linn Benton Community College and Portland State University, a regional public university in Oregon. Simply put, attending these institutions changed the trajectory of her life and she believes in the power of access institutions to promote racial and economic justice and democracy. Dr. Orphan holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Portland State University. From 2006-2011, she directed the American Democracy Project, a national civic engagement initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Degree(s)
- Certificate, Hybrid 3D Workshop, University of Denver, 2016
- Ph.D., Higher Education , University of Pennsylvania, 2015
- BA, Political Science, Portland State University, 2006
Professional Affiliations
- American Educational Research Association
- Association for the Study of Higher Education
Media Sources
Research
Dr. Orphan's research agenda broadly interrogates the following question: What are higher education's purposes in a democratic society? Dr. Orphan’s research is comprised of two strands that examine this question: 1) the societal purposes, equity contributions, institutional functioning, governance, and administrative strategies of regional public (comprehensive) universities and rural serving postsecondary institutions; and 2) how policy discourses and agendas for higher education shape the system's equity and public purposes.
Areas of Research
Public Policy and Finance
Organizational Governance and Academic Administration
Regional Public Universities
Higher Education and Democracy
Rural Serving Postsecondary Institutions
and the Privatization of Higher Education
Key Projects
- Ending Data Invisibility: Identifying and Defining Regional Public Universities
- How Regional Public Universities Provide Value: State Policy Mechanisms and Institutional Characteristics that Foster Student Success
- Understanding Higher Education in Rural America: Developing a Typology of Rural-Serving Institutions and Examining their Community Contributions
Featured Publications
. (2021). Unlocking opportunity through broadly accessible institutions. New York: Routledge.
. (2015). "Building bridges, not fences": A history of civic engagement at private Black colleges and universities. Higher Education Quarterly.
Presentations
. (2023). Through the maze: Redistributing knowledge. Think for Tomorrow Stage. Budapest, Hungary: Sziget Festival.
. (2024). Humanizing Education. Great Ideas Summit. Boise ID: Boise State University.
. (2022). What Makes a "Good College" - And Why it Matters. TEDxMileHigh. Denver, CO: TED.com.
Awards
- Helen C. Bailey Alumni Award, University of Pennsylvania
- Graduate Career Faculty Champion, Career & Professional Development
- Crimson and Gold Faculty Award, Office of Student Engagement