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Dr. Kevin Kinser

Professor of Education

Phone: 814-863-3770

311A Rackley Building
University Park, PA 16802

Department(s)

  • Education Policy Studies

Program(s)

  • Education and Public Policy, BS
  • Education Policy and Leadership, PhD
  • Higher Education Program, DEd, M.Ed
  • Comparative and International Education, Dual-title

Center(s)

  • Center for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE)

Most excited about: Impact , Innovation and Internationalization

Current Research: Global Dimensions of Quality Assurance; Online Program Management Policy

Education

  • EdD, Higher Education, Organizational Leadership, Columbia University
  • M.Ed, Student Affairs, Columbia University
  • MA, Higher and Adult Education, Columbia University
  • BA, University of Dayton

Biography

 

Kevin Kinser is a Professor and Head of the Department of Education Policy Studies and a Senior Scientist at the Center for the Study of Higher Education in the College of Education at Penn State.

 

A graduate of Columbia University's Teachers College (New York), Kinser studies non-traditional and alternative higher education, particularly the public policies and organizational structures related to private for-profit institutions and international cross-border higher education. Kinser is co-founder of the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT), which investigates the scope and impact of international branch campuses worldwide.

 

Kinser is the author or editor of five books and more than 70 articles, chapters, and scholarly reports. He is regularly invited to present his research at conferences in the United States and abroad. Because of his research, Kinser is regularly sought out by national and international media outlets for commentary on for-profit and international higher education.

 

His most recent book is Accreditation on the edge: Challenging Quality Assurance in Higher Education (2018, Johns Hopkins Press).

Areas of Expertise

Social Issues

Education Policy

Expertise and Research Interests

Accreditation
Internationalization of Higher Education
Quality Assurance

Most Cited Papers

Most Interesting Papers

  • Cheslock, John J., Kinser, K., Zipf, Sarah T., and Ra, Eunjong (2022). Examining the OPM: Form, function, and policy implications. Available: https://edarxiv.org/py3sz/
  • Crombie-Borgos, J., Kinser, K. and Kline, Lindsey (2023). The Borderless Market for Open, Distance and Digital Education. In Olaf Zawacki-Richter and Insung Jung, eds. Handbook of Open, Distance, and Digital Education. Springer's Major Reference Works Series. Springer Press.
  • Kinser, K. and *Zipf, S.T. (2019). Assessing a Moving Target: Research on For-Profit Higher Education in the United States. In Michael B. Paulsen, ed. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research (Vol XXIV). Springer Press.
  • 2015 Award for Significant Research on International Higher Education by the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s (ASHE) Council for International Higher Education (CIHE)
  • Head of the Department of Education Policy Studies
  • Senior Scientist at the Center for the Study of Higher Education
  • Internationalization of Higher Education
  • Organization and Administration of Higher Education