Lara Couturier

Program Director

Contact Lara Couturier

Lara Couturier leads research and publications for JFF’s higher education policy work related to Achieving the Dream, the Developmental Education Initiative, and Completion by Design. She also provides various supports to the state policy teams in these initiatives.

Before JFF, Dr. Couturier conducted research and evaluations for ATD and other higher education initiatives as an independent consultant. She also served as the interim principal investigator and director of research for the Futures Project: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing World, a higher education think tank based at Brown University. She also continues as consulting editor and feature contributor for Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning.

Dr. Couturier has authored or coauthored more than 20 publications on various postsecondary topics. Notable works include: The Future of Higher Education; Checks and Balances at Work; and “Balancing State Control with Society’s Needs” for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Dr. Couturier has a Ph.D. in history from Brown University; her dissertation covers debates over access to college in the United States. She also holds a Master’s in history from Brown, a Master’s from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Bachelor’s in international business from the University of Richmond.