Hojung Lee, the first doctoral graduate from the University of Delaware’s interdisciplinary education and social policy program, is making significant strides in education research. Her rigorous, data-driven approach aims to improve public policy and educational outcomes for underserved students. Now a postdoctoral associate at Rice University’s Department of Sociology, Lee explores how different resource allocation decisions can impact educational opportunities for these students.
Lee’s efforts in this field have earned her recognition as a 2025 APPAM Equity and Inclusion Young Professional Fellow by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. This award celebrates early-career scholars who develop evidence-based solutions to address pressing policy challenges.
Her academic journey began in economics in South Korea, where she focused on game theory. After mentoring students from low-income backgrounds, she shifted her interests towards education policy, driven by the transformative impact of targeted support. This led her to the University of Delaware, where she found a program and mentorship that aligned with her values and ambitions.
At the University of Delaware, Lee worked with faculty mentors like Ken Shores, an expert in education equity, and Florence Ran, who focuses on community college success. The program offered her the necessary training and interdisciplinary perspective to tackle complex educational issues. Her dissertation included three empirical studies, two of which have already been published in peer-reviewed journals, examining how policies and institutional structures affect outcomes for disadvantaged students.
In her first study, Lee analyzed the implications of federal Title I funding on local education finance. Initially intended to provide additional support for schools with high numbers of low-income students, Title I funding now supplements rather than replaces local funding. However, she found that local districts reduce capital expenditures, such as building improvements, which disproportionately affects disadvantaged students.
Her second study delved into corequisite remediation in higher education, intended to improve course completion rates. Although the model raised completion rates, it also inadvertently contributed to higher dropout rates among some students. Lee believes this could be due to students taking fewer courses overall, highlighting the need for policies that retain the model’s benefits while addressing its challenges.
The third study explored disparities in Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways in Delaware, revealing that female and African American students are often directed towards lower-wage career tracks. This suggests a need for more equitable advising and support systems in CTE enrollment.
Lee’s research underlines the importance of federal policy and data infrastructure in shaping education outcomes. She appreciates the high-quality data available in the U.S., which supports comprehensive research on the effects of different policies and funding models on educational equity.
Thanks to the foundation built at UD, Lee continues to pursue her mission of bridging policy and practice in education. Her recent recognition as a 2025 APPAM Equity and Inclusion Young Professional Fellow underscores the importance of her work and highlights UD’s role in training researchers who use data to drive meaningful change in education.