Diana Cervantes

Higher Education Leadership
The University of Texas at Austin

Diana Cervantes is a third-year Higher Education Leadership doctoral student at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a graduate research assistant for the Free College Equity Lab and has worked as a researcher with the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) and Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success). Diana serves as the managing editor of the Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity (JCSCORE). Diana is a first-generation college student, an Oregonian, and a Gates Millennium Scholarship recipient. Her experience working in student engagement, the federal government, and the non-profit sector have inspired her interest in working to accelerate Latin* student success in higher education. Her dissertation research focuses on the experiences of Latin* community college students with free college policy. Diana earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon, graduating Magna Cum Laude, and a Master of Arts in higher and postsecondary education with an emphasis in social/cultural and civic analysis from Teachers College, Columbia University.