Devon L. Graves

Bio

Devon L. Graves, Ph. D., is an Assistant Professor of Community College Leadership at North Carolina State University, where he researches the racial disparities faced by Students of Color in American higher education. His research has primarily focused on uncovering the inequities that these students encounter in the financial aid process. 

Prior to his current role, Dr. Graves served as an Assistant Professor at California State University, Stanislaus, and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Foundation for California Community Colleges. His contributions to higher education policy have included serving on the Board of Regents for the University of California and as a governor-appointed commissioner for the California Student Aid Commission. 

Dr. Graves’s research has been published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Higher Education, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, New Directions for Community Colleges, and the Journal of Student Financial Aid. A product of California’s public education system, he earned his B.A. from Cal Poly Pomona and his M.A. and Ph.D. from UCLA.

Publications

• Financial Aid as Whiteness as Property: Implications for Research and Practice , JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION (2024)
• Latinx community college students experiencing financial aid income verification: A critical race analysis. , Journal of Diversity in Higher Education (2023)
• The Procedural Traps and Barriers to Receiving Aid: A Case Study of the Financial Aid Ecosystem in a Hispanic Serving Community College Students , Community College Journal of Research and Practice (2023)
• Cooling Out in the Verification Process: A Mixed Methods Exploration into the Relevance of Racism in Community College Students’ Financial Aid Experiences , (2019)
• Text Me: The Promise of Strategic Nudging to Increase Student Awareness and Access to Financial Aid , Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research, Research Brief (2018)

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