Bio

[On scholarly leave Fall 2026]

Paul D. Umbach serves as Professor in the Higher Education and Adult and Lifelong Education Programs in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development.

He recently received a Fulbright-Tampere University Scholar Award funded by the Fulbright Finland Foundation for the 2026-27 academic year. Working with colleagues at Tampere University, Paul will be studying how university mergers affect institutions, faculty, and students. Using three Finnish universities as cases, the study analyzes changes in organizational structure, academic work, and outcomes following mergers. This work builds on a series of studies that explore the predictors and outcomes of college and university mergers.

He has held visiting appointments at Nagoya University and the University of Jyväskylä. He teaches classes on finance and higher education, organizational theory and higher education, policy analysis, college faculty, survey methods, and multi-level modeling. Paul uses advanced quantitative methods to study policies and practices that affect college student access and success and the careers of college faculty. Central to much of his work are issues of equity and diversity. He also has done research on survey methods. He also is currently co-leading a national survey of US college faculty, which is part of an ongoing international collaboration with 40 countries.

He seeks to work with students who are interested in education policy, particularly as it relates to issues of access, attainment, and labor market outcomes. His former students work in a range of positions including faculty, policy research, institutional research, and student affairs.

Learn more about his work by visiting his google scholar page.