PhD, 2022 Ben Cecil is a Senior Education Policy Advisor with Third Way, a national think tank that champions modern center-left ideas. The work of the higher education team at Third Way seeks to expand the conversation about federal higher education policy from focusing solely on cost to comprehensively prioritizing return on investment for students and taxpayers. Their efforts promote policies that improve student outcomes across higher education and hold schools accountable if most of their students can't graduate, get a good paying job, or pay down their loans. Cecil had previously worked as a Research Associate at the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, D.C. While a student at the McBee Institute, he served in multiple roles in the University of Georgia's Department of International Student Life. In addition to his doctorate, Cecil holds a masters degree in Higher Education from Florida State University and a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from the University of Georgia. His research interests continue to focus on internationalization of higher education, including the role of institutional type, federal/state level policy, institutional governance, and the geopolitics of internationalization.
