Nicole Ifill

Nicole Ifill is deputy director for Data where she manages a team that works to strengthen data infrastructure to improve the availability, quality, and use of data that connects educational attainment to workforce outcomes. She also oversees the team’s measurement, learning, and evaluation efforts. This work helps ensure that institutions, policymakers, and researchers have the information they need for data-driven decision-making and that learners can make informed decisions about their career paths.

Nicole has devoted her career to addressing barriers to postsecondary education and issues surrounding persistence and attainment, especially for learners from low-income backgrounds. Before joining the foundation in 2017, she managed several data analysis projects at RTI International, including as analytic director of the 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study and as project director of the annual data update of College Results Online, a web tool developed by the Education Trust that provides detailed institution-level data on student graduation rates and labor market outcomes to multiple stakeholders.

Nicole has a master’s degree in statistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a bachelor’s degree in political science-statistics from Columbia University.