About

Benjamin Skinner is an assistant professor of higher education and policy in the College of Education. His research interests center on the policies and practices that affect students who attend community colleges and broad access universities. In his work he has focused on the relationships between online course delivery and student enrollments, course outcomes, and degree attainment; how students weigh factors like distance and cost when choosing a college; and the economic and social outcomes of college attendance. Dr. Skinner also has an interest in data science and is the author and maintainer of a number of open source software packages. Prior to coming to the University of Florida, he was a research assistant professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia. He earned his doctorate in leadership and policy studies from Vanderbilt University.

Research Interests

Community College, Data Collection and Analysis, Higher Education Policy, Online and Distance Education, Quantitative Research, Statistics / Applied Stats

Education

• Ph.D. in Leadership and Policy Studies, 2017 Vanderbilt University
• M.A. in Humanities, 2008 University of Chicago
• B.Mus. in Music and English, 2006 Vanderbilt University

Professional Appointments

• Research Assistant Professor of Education and Public Policy, University of Virginia, 2018 - 2019
• Research Assistant Professor of Education, University of Virginia, 2017 - 2018

Selected Publications

• Baker, D. J., Skinner, B. T., & Redding, C. (forthcoming). "Affirmative intervention to reduce stereotype threat bias: Experimental evidence from a community college." The Journal of Higher Education.
• Skinner, B. T. (2019). "Making the connection: Broadband access and online course enrollment at public open admissions institutions." Research in Higher Education, 1-40.
• Skinner, B. T. (2019). "Choosing college in the 2000s: An updated analysis using the conditional logistic choice model." Research in Higher Education, 60(2), 153-183.
• Doyle, W. R., & Skinner, B. T. (2017). "Does postsecondary education result in civic benefits?" The Journal of Higher Education, 88(6), 863-893.
• Doyle, W. R., & Skinner, B. T. (2016). "Estimating the education-earnings equation using geographic variation." Economics of Education Review, 53, 254-267.
• Heyneman, S. P., & Skinner, B. T. (2014). "The Bologna Process in the countries of the former Soviet Union: An outsider's perspective." Journal of the European Higher Education Area, 01/2014.

Selected Links

• btskinner.io