Dr. Amy Li is an Associate Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at Florida International University. Her research examines higher education finance, public policy, and college affordability, including “free” college and promise programs, financial aid and student loan debt, and performance-based funding policies. She studies the adoption and implementation of higher education policies and their impacts on student outcomes. She teaches graduate courses in Higher Education Finance, Higher Education and Public Policy, Organizations and Administration, and Practicum, connecting theory to contemporary policy and institutional challenges.
Dr. Li’s work has appeared in leading education and higher education journals, including AERA Open, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Research in Higher Education, The Review of Higher Education, and The Journal of Higher Education. Her research has been supported by the American Educational Research Association, AccessLex Institute and the Association for Institutional Research, the Kresge Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and Strada Education Foundation.
In addition to her academic scholarship, Dr. Li is interested in connecting research to policy and practice. She has written about the implications of her research for think tanks such as the Brookings Institution, the Upjohn Institute, the Century Foundation, and Third Way, and her work has been featured in outlets including the Conversation, Marketplace, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed.
Dr. Li earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Washington. Prior to her academic career, she worked in study abroad and private sector finance. She is currently writing a co-authored book on higher education finance.
Research Areas
- Higher education
- Higher education finance
- State policy
- College affordability
- Financial aid
- Policy adoption
- Policy evaluation
Education
- Ph.D., Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Washington
- M.Ed., Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Utah
- B.S., Economics, Psychology, University of Utah
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Billings, M. S., Li, A. Y., & Gándara, D. (pre-print). “A ragtag team of like[-minded] individuals who are willing to help”: The implementation and evolution of student support services at community colleges with promise programs. The Review of Higher Education. Pre-print: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/1004055/pdf
Chan, R. Y., & Li, A. Y. (2026). From college to homeownership: How undergraduate major, salary, and student loan debt are associated with housing outcomes in the United States. Education Sciences, 16(9), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16091444
Li, A. Y., & Billings, M. S. (2025). The financial needs of students in community college promise programs. AERA Open, 11. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584251378076
Li, A. Y., & Hu, X. (2025). Goodbye performance-based funding: Policy abandonment of performance funding for higher education in the United States. Research in Higher Education, 66(8), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-024-09828-0
Li, A. Y., Billings, M. S., Gándara, D., & Hu, X. (2025). Promise programs and the allocation of institutional expenditures at community colleges. Community College Review, 53(2), 192-225. https://doi.org/10.1177/00915521241300150
Li, A. Y., & *Liu, Y. (2025). Need-based promise programs, performance funding bonuses, and the enrollment of low-income students. Educational Policy, 39(6), 1171-1208. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048241287410 *graduate student
Li, A. Y. & *Katri, P. (2024). Does tuition-setting authority determine whether tuition increases at community colleges with new promise programs? The Journal of Higher Education, 96(1), 111-140.https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2024.2301914 *graduate student
Li, A. Y., & *Katri, P. (2023). Promise program effects at a large, urban institution: A study of Miami Dade College’s American Dream Scholarship. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 3(1), 60-79. https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss133359 *graduate student
Li, A. Y., Laderman, S. A., Weeden, D. D., & Tandberg, D. A. (2023). Reducing uncertainty: Do state finance policies protect against volatility in higher education funding? In J. Delaney (Ed.), Volatility in state spending for higher education (pp. 105-134). American Educational Research Association. https://www.aera.net/Publications/Volatility-in-State-Spending-for-Higher-Education
Li, A. Y., & Kelchen, R. (2023). Policy diffusion of performance funding equity metrics: Traditional neighbor and dyadic survival analyses. Educational Policy, 37(4), 875-909. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211058439
Li, A. Y., & Kelchen, R. (2021). Institutional and state-level factors related to paying back student loan debt among public, private, and for-profit colleges. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 50(2), 1-19. https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfa/vol50/iss2/2/
Li, A. Y. (2021). Four decades of performance funding and counting. In L. W. Perna (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 36, pp. 1-64). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43030-6_8-1
Li, A. Y. (2020). Dollars and sense: Student price sensitivity to law school tuition. Journal of Law, Business, and Ethics, 26(Winter), 47-70.
Gándara, D., & Li, A. Y. (2020). Promise for whom? “Free-college” programs and enrollments by race and gender classifications at public, 2-year colleges. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(4), 603-627. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720962472
Li, A. Y., & Gándara, D. (2020). The promise of “free” tuition and program design features: Impacts on first-time college enrollment. In L.W. Perna & E. J. Smith (Eds.), Improving research-based knowledge of college promise programs (pp. 219-239). American Educational Research Association. https://www.aera.net/Publications/-Online-Store/Books-Publications/BKctl/ViewDetails/SKU/AERWIRBKP
Li, A. Y. (2020). Performance funding policy impacts on STEM degree attainment. Educational Policy, 34(2), 312-349. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904818755455
Li, A. Y. (2019). The weight of the metric: Performance funding and the retention of historically underserved students. The Journal of Higher Education, 90(6), 965-991. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1602391
Li, A. Y., & Ortagus, J. C. (2019). Raising the stakes: Impacts of the Complete College Tennessee Act on underserved student enrollment and sub-baccalaureate credentials. The Review of Higher Education, 43(1), 295-333. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0097
Li, A. Y., & Zumeta, W. (2019). Helping students or just taking their cuts? How prioritization of state student aid programs responds to downturns in higher education appropriations. Teachers College Record, 121(8), 1-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811912100803
Li, A. Y., Gándara D., & Assalone, A. (2018). Equity or disparity: Do performance funding policies disadvantage 2-year minority-serving institutions? Community College Review, 46(3), 288-315. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552118778776
Li, A. Y., & Kennedy, A. I. (2018). Performance funding policy effects on community college outcomes: Are short-term certificates on the rise? Community College Review, 46(1), 3-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552117743790
Li, A. Y. (2017). Covet thy neighbor or “reverse policy diffusion”? State adoption of performance funding 2.0. Research in Higher Education, 58(7), 746-771. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-016-9444-9
Kelchen, R., & Li, A. Y. (2017). Institutional accountability: A comparison of the predictors of student loan repayment and default rates. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 671(1), 202-223. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716217701681
Li. A. Y. (2017). Dramatic declines in higher education appropriations: State conditions for budget punctuations. Research in Higher Education, 58(4), 395-429. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11162-016-9432-0
Li. A. Y. (2017). The point of the point: Washington’s Student Achievement Initiative through the looking glass of a community college. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 41(3), 183-202. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2016.1179601
Invited Articles and Chapters
Billings, M. S., Li, A. Y., Gándara, D., Acevedo, R., Cervantes, D., & Turcios-Villalta, J. (2023). Financing promise programs: Where the money comes from and where the money goes. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2023(203), 9-23. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20583
Billings, M. S., Gándara, D., & Li, A. Y. (2021). Tuition-free promise programs: Implications and lessons learned. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2021(196), 81-95. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20485
Li, A. Y. (2020). Budgeting processes in higher education institutions. In M. E. David & M. J. Amey (Eds.), The SAGE encyclopedia of higher education (pp. 191-194). SAGE Publications. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-encyclopedia-of-higher-education/book245423
Li, A. Y., & Zumeta, W. (2015). State support for higher education. In J. Huisman, H. de Boer, D. Dill, & M. Souto-Otero (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of higher education policy and governance (pp. 463-482). Palgrave/Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-45617-5_25
Policy Briefs, Technical Reports, Blog Posts, and Other Public-Facing Works
Lowry, D., & Li, A. (2025). How do Promise programs benefit students? Early messaging. In Miller-Adams, M. & Iriti, J. (Eds.), The free college handbook: A practitioner’s guide to promise research (Ch. 5). W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. https://promiseprogramshub.com/free-college-handbook/chapters/5-how-do-promise-programs-benefit-students-early-messaging/
Lowry, D., & Li, A. (2025). How do Promise programs benefit students? Student support. In Miller-Adams, M. & Iriti, J. (Eds.), The free college handbook: A practitioner’s guide to promise research (Ch. 6). W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. https://promiseprogramshub.com/free-college-handbook/chapters/6-how-do-promise-programs-benefit-students-student-support/
Li, A., & Lowry, D. (2025). How do Promise programs benefit students? Postsecondary attainment. In Miller-Adams, M. & Iriti, J. (Eds.), The free college handbook: A practitioner’s guide to promise research (Ch. 7). W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. https://promiseprogramshub.com/free-college-handbook/chapters/7-how-do-promise-programs-benefit-students-postsecondary-attainment/
Lowry, D., & Li, A. (2025). How do Promise programs benefit students? Borrowing. In Miller-Adams, M. & Iriti, J. (Eds.), The free college handbook: A practitioner’s guide to promise research (Ch. 8). W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. https://promiseprogramshub.com/free-college-handbook/chapters/8-how-do-promise-programs-benefit-students-borrowing/
Li, A. Y., Billings, M., & Gándara, D. (2025, August 11). Administrators push to improve free college access. Brown Center Chalkboard, Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/administrators-push-to-improve-free-college-access/
Li, A. (2025, May 16). Trump’s battle with elite universities overlooks where most students actually go to college. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/AAI.u53wvwwvf
Li, A. Y., & Gándara, D. (2021, February 4). These are the students free community college programs help the most. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/AAI.t99nwpkat
Gándara, D., & Li, A. Y. (2020, December). Free college tuition programs dramatically increase Black and Hispanic enrollment. Campaign for Free College Tuition. https://www.freecollegenow.org/freecollegeequity_dec2020
Li, A. Y., & Mishory, J. (2018). Financing institutions in the free college debate. The Century Foundation. https://tcf.org/content/report/financing-institutions-free-college-debate/
Li, A. Y. (2018). Lessons learned: A case study of performance funding in higher education. Third Way. https://www.thirdway.org/report/lessons-learned-a-case-study-of-performance-funding-in-higher-education
Li, A. Y., Kennedy, A. I., & *Sebastian, M. L. (2018). Policy design matters: The impact of performance funding policies on community college credential completions (WISCAPE Policy Brief). University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE). https://education.wisc.edu/news/wiscape-policy-brief-highlights-impact-of-performance-funding-at-community-colleges/ *graduate student
Zumeta, W., & Li, A. Y. (2016). Assessing the underpinnings of performance funding 2.0: Will this dog hunt?TIAA Institute. https://www.tiaa.org/public/institute/publication/2016/assessing-underpinnings-performance-funding
Li, A. Y., & Zumeta, W. (2016). Performance funding on the ground: Campus responses and perspectives in two states. TIAA Institute. https://www.tiaa.org/public/institute/publication/2016/performance-funding-ground-campus-responses
Li, A. Y. (2014). Performance funding in the states: An increasingly ubiquitous public policy for higher education. Higher Education in Review, 11 (Online). https://sites.psu.edu/higheredinreview/2014/02/14/performance-funding-in-the-states-an-increasingly-ubiquitous-public-policy-for-higher-education/