As always, host Bob Barrett selects an Academic Minute to air during The Best of Our Knowledge.
Each week this program examines some of the issues unique to college campuses, looks at the latest research, and invites commentary from experts and administrators from all levels of education.
For this week‘s edition (#1300), Bob has selected Joni Finney’s segment focusing on restarting and completing one’s college education. Dr. Finney is the Director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education (IRHE) and Professor of Practice at the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania. 
Dr. Joni Finney is Director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education (IRHE) and Professor of Practice at the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania. She is also an affiliate with the Wharton Public Policy Initiative. At Penn, Dr. Finney initiated and was Co-Principal investigator of a five state study to understand how public policies explain higher education performance; The Attainment Agenda (2014) highlights findings from this study.
Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Finney was vice president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education where she developed and directed the nation’s first biennial state-by-state report card for higher education, Measuring Up. She was principal author of the 50 state-by-state report cards from 2000-2008. Prior to that, she held senior leadership roles at the California Higher Education Policy Center and the Education Commission of the States. She has worked with governors and legislators from more than 25 states and testified before congressional and state legislative committees. Finney co-authored three other volumes, Public and Private Finance of Higher Education: Shaping Public Policy for the Future; Designing State Higher Education Systems for a New Century; Financing American Higher Education in an Era of Globalization and numerous policy reports and articles on higher education. She is a founding board member for the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center and a board member of several non-profit organizations. She is chair of the national selection committee for the Virginia B. Smith Innovation Award in American Higher Education.
