Lara Couturier

Program Director, Postsecondary State Policy

Contact Lara Couturier

Lara Couturier leads research and publications for JFF’s Postsecondary State Policy Network, which includes 11 states that are focused on improving student success with support from Achieving the Dream as well as the Completion by Design and Student Success Center initiatives. 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 and organizations 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 continues to serve 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 from the University of Richmond.