Alisa Federico Cunningham is a former senior associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). She plays a senior role in the organization’s expansive national and international portfolio of research projects focusing large federal and other datasets, in addition to survey development and qualitative analyses.

Cunningham has published articles in various journals and magazines, and is the author or co-author of many reports and policy briefs, including: Making Sense of the System: Financial Aid for the 21st-Century Student, The Rising Costs of Higher Education: A Reference Handbook, and The Investment Payoff: A 50-State Analysis of the Public and Private Benefits of Higher Education.

In 2010-11, Cunningham was appointed to the U.S. Department of Education’s Committee on Measures of Student Success. She is also a current member of the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative.

An IHEP expert on various higher education issues, Cunningham has more than a decade of experience managing and conducting research and evaluation projects on a broad array of topics, including higher education financing, financial aid, measures of community college success, and risk factors for student access and success.