Jason Taylor
Bio
Jason L. Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy and an Assistant Dean for Transfer Student Success in Undergraduate Studies at the University of Utah. He received his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a research specialization in evaluation methods and concentration in public policy. Dr. Taylor's research examines how higher education and community college policies and practices shape educational opportunity structures for marginalized and underrepresented college students in the areas of college access, college transition, college identity and success, and college affordability.
Dr. Taylor has conducted and led several quantitative and mixed methods studies related to college readiness, developmental education, college affordability, adult pathways to college, dual credit/enrollment and early college experiences, transfer policy and reverse transfer, LGBTQ students, career and technical education, and educational access and equity. He has secured over one million dollars in external research grants, and has published 28 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, two edited books, and 37 policy and evaluation reports. He has published in scholarly journals such as American Behavioral Scientist, Community College Review, the Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Education Policy Analysis Archives, Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, New Directions for Community Colleges, and The Review of Higher Education. He has also published for policy and research organizations, intermediaries, and postsecondary organizations such as the Institute for Higher Education Policy, Council on Adult and Experiential Learning, Michigan Center for Student Success, Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, Office of Community College Research and Leadership, and the Illinois Education Research Council, among others.
Publications
- Taylor, J. L., Allen, T. O., An, B. P., Denecker, C., Edmunds, J. A., Fink, J., Giani, M. S., Hodara, M., Hu, X., Tobolowsky, B. F., & Chen, W. (2022). Research priorities for advancing equitable dual enrollment policy and practice. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah.
- Davis, L., Pocai, J., Taylor, J. L., Kauppila, S. A., & Rubin, P. (2021). Lighting the path to remove systematic barriers in higher education and award earned postsecondary credentials through IHEPs Degrees When Due Initiative. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Higher Education Policy.
- Taylor, J. L., Rubin, P., & Kauppila, S. A. (2021). Unpacking implementation capacity and contexts for degree reclamation strategies: What Factors Move the Equity Needle? Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29(27).
- Giani, M., Taylor, J. L., & Kauppila, S. (2021). Examining the educational and employment outcomes of reverse credit transfer. AERA Open, 7(1).
- Sublett, C., & Taylor, J. L. (2021). Net Tuition, Unmet Financial Need and Cooling Out: A National Study of Degree Aspirations Among First-Time Community College Students. Community College Review, 49(4), 389-412.
- Zamani-Gallaher, E. M., Choudhuri, D. D., & Taylor, J. L. (Eds.) (2020). Rethinking LGBTQIA students and collegiate context: Identities, policies, and campus climate. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Klein-Collins, R. Taylor, J. L., Bishop, C. Bransberger, B. Lane, P. & Leibrandt, S. (2020). The PLA boost: Results from a 72 institution targeted study of prior learning assessment and student outcomes. Council for Adult and Experiential Learning and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
- Taylor, J. L., & Giani, M. (2019). Modeling the effect of the reverse credit transfer associate’s degree: Evidence from two states. Review of Higher Education, 42(2), 427-455.
- An., B., & Taylor, J. L. (2019). A review of empirical studies on dual enrollment: Assessing educational outcomes. In Paulsen, M. B. & Perna, L. (Eds.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, 34, 99-151.
- Taylor, J. L. (2019). Postsecondary transfer and mobility in Michigan: Exploring transfer patterns, programs, places, and people. Lansing, MI: Michigan Center for Student Success, Michigan Community College Association.
- Taylor, J. L., & Yan, R. (2018). Exploring participation in and outcomes of Advanced Placement and concurrent enrollment programs in Arkansas. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26(123).
- Taylor, J. L., & Lepper, C. (2018). Designing the promise: The Salt Lake Community College Promise Program. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 42(11), 770-777.
- Taylor, J. L., & Jain, D. (2017). Multiple dimensions and meanings of transfer: The transfer function in American higher education. Community College Review, 45(4), 273-293.
- Taylor, J. L., Dockendorff, K., & Inselman, K. (2017). Decoding the digital campus climate for LGBTQ students in community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 42(3), 155-170.
- Taylor, J.L. & An, B.P. (2017). Improving IPEDS data collection on high school students enrolled in college courses. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Postsecondary Education Cooperative. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch
- Taylor, J. L. (2015). Accelerating pathways to college: The (in)equitable effects of community college dual credit. Community College Review, 43(4), 355-379.
- An, B. P., & Taylor J. L. (2015). Are Dual Enrollment Students College Ready? Evidence from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education. Education Policy Analysis Archives. http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1781/1624
- Taylor, J. L., & Pretlow, J. (Eds.). (2015). Dual enrollment polices, pathways, and perspectives. New Directions for Community Colleges. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Research
Dr. Taylor's research is informed by his experiences as a first-generation college graduate and his professional experience working in institutional and policy contexts. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Taylor was an academic advisor at Illinois State University where he advised new freshmen and transfer students. He was also the Registrar at Chaparral College in Tucson, Arizona. As a graduate student, he interned in the Institutional Research offices at Parkland College and the College of Lake County, both in Illinois. He also participated in a research internship at Lancaster University in the UK and was seslected as a research intern for the Higher Learning Commission.
Honors & Awards
- In 2016, he was warded the Barbara K. Townsend Emerging Scholars award from the Council for the Study of Community Colleges, an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges.