Higher Ed Research Intern

The Education Trust•Washington, DC

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

EdTrust seeks a Higher Ed Research Intern to join a staff committed to fulfilling its mission of closing opportunity gaps that disproportionately affect students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. The Intern will support data management and analysis for the team’s data tools, including creating a streamlined process for downloading, cleaning, merging, and appending postsecondary data to create metrics for EdTrust products. The work will focus on using publicly available data to create narratives about access, accountability, affordability, and success for low-income students and students of color in postsecondary education. This role is at the intersection of quantitative research, data infrastructure, and public-facing tools, aiming to make education and workforce data more accessible and actionable. EdTrust is committed to advancing policies and practices to dismantle racial and economic barriers in the U.S. education system, improving equity from preschool through college, engaging diverse communities, and increasing public will for an equitable education system. This role is available September 2026, ideally based in Washington, D.C., but other locations may be considered. Upon hire, the intern must report to the EdTrust National office within three days for employment verification. This is a part-time role for less than 6 months, with a negotiable schedule and dates. The Intern reports to the Director of Higher Ed Research and will be a member of the EdTrust National Higher Ed Research Team.

Requirements

Enrolled in a degree program with a focus on education, public policy, statistics, research methodologies, or a related field
Experience in a research role, including quantitative data analysis
Experience with statistical software (R, SQL, Python, STATA, SPSS) and/or data visualization (Power BI, Tableau, R, gplot, etc.)

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with higher education issues
Experience working with cloud database systems (e.g. AWS), large datasets, APIs, or data pipelines is a plus
Backgrounds in data science, engineering, or software development who are interested in applying their technical skills to advance equity in education and workforce outcomes
Shared belief in EdTrust’s mission and a commitment to improving educational equity with a focus on racial equity
Dedication in contributing to and maintaining an equitable working environment
Strong critical thinking skills
Excellent attention to detail
Ability to do analytical work with data autonomously
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Teamwork skills and an eagerness for collaboration
Problem-solving ability
Willingness to receive and act upon, as well as provide, constructive feedback
Continuous learner
Experience or interest in using digital platforms (including social media) to communicate data insights to broader audiences
Interest in applying data science, computer science, or engineering skills to advance equity and improve access to public data

Responsibilities

Mine data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the College Scorecard, U.S. Census, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and other sources to produce datasets that help identify institutions and states that are successfully enrolling and graduating underserved populations, or making significant progress in those areas
Analyze national datasets to identify barriers to access and success for students of color and low-income students in higher education
Assist with the redesign, improvement, and updating of metrics hosted on College Results, an interactive webtool
Help with the development and analysis of equity metrics that assess how successful institutions and states are at increasing access, accountability, affordability, and success for students of color and low-income students
Collect literature and draft research to inform team projects and policy recommendations
Assist with the development of tools and processes to aid postsecondary improvement efforts
Translate data and research into accessible, public-facing products, including dashboards, webtools, briefs, and content for digital and social media platforms
Contribute to building, maintaining, or improving data pipelines, reproducible workflows, or backend processes that support EdTrust’s data tools and analyses