Sooji Kim, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Finance, Higher Education Policy, Mixed Methods, Quantitative Research, Research / Program Evaluation

Dr. Sooji Kim is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration and Policy in the College of Education at the University of Florida. She earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education, with a concentration in Organizational Behavior and Management, from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Kim’s research examines the design and effects of higher education policies, specifically financial aid and admissions, within the broader context of institutional enrollment management. Her work pays particular attention to the administrative, structural, and informational barriers that limit college access, affordability, and success among low-income students. Her scholarship draws primarily on quantitative methods, including causal inference approaches, complemented by mixed-methods designs.

Her work has appeared in The Journal of Higher Education, AERA Open, and Journal of Student Financial Aid, among other outlets. Dr. Kim’s scholarship has been recognized by the American Educational Research Association-National Science Foundation (AERA-NSF) Research Grant, the 2025 Ascendium Researchers Fellowship Award at the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE), and the 2023 Jean Flanigan Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP).