Department of Counseling, Family Therapy and Higher Education

Dr. Kelsey Kunkle is an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs (HESA) in the Reich College of Education at Appalachian State University. Her scholarship is primarily structured around state policy and partisanship in higher education, student-serving institutions (particularly community colleges and minority-serving institutions), and organizational change in higher education. Dr. Kunkle’s research is driven by a deep interest in institutions of higher education and the complex environments in which they operate. Thus, her work examines the varied political, economic, social, and racialized contexts within which colleges and universities function, grounded in the belief that understanding these contexts is essential to confronting policies and power dynamics that shape higher education.

Dr. Kunkle is a member of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and has presented her research at various national conferences, including ASHE, the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC), the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP). Her work has also led to several peer-reviewed publications and policy reports.

Prior to joining the faculty at App State, Dr. Kunkle held roles in student and academic affairs, including orientation and transitions programs and academic advising. Drawing from her own experience as an undergraduate transfer student, Dr. Kunkle primarily focused on working with transfer students during her time as a student affairs professional. Most recently, Dr. Kunkle served as a senior policy analyst for the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) where she led the State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) project and supported several other state policy-focused projects.

Dr. Kunkle earned her Ph.D. in higher education from the University of North Texas. She also holds an M.Ed. in college student personnel from Western Carolina University and a B.A. in communication from the University of Maryland.

Selected Refereed Journal Articles

• Jones, V., Guess, A., Kunkle, K., Anderson, S., & Haynes, L. (2024). Hispanic-serving research one institutions as racialized organizations: Making sense of dual identities. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/15381927241307645
• Kunkle, K., & Taylor, B. (2024). Statewide community college promise programs: An event history analysis. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2024.2386672
• Taylor, B.J., Kunkle, K. & Watts, K. (2023). Democratic backsliding and the balance wheel hypothesis: Partisanship and state funding for higher education in the United States. Higher Education Policy 36, 781–803. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-022-00286-w
• Jones, V.A., & Kunkle, K. (2022). Unmarked privilege and marked oppression: Analyzing predominantly white and minority serving institutions as racialized organizations. Innovative Higher Education, 47, 755 - 774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-022-09610-z
• Kunkle, K. (2022). Partnering for a promise: Institutional logics and a community college district’s response to a promise program partnership. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 47(5), 329–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2022.2037478
• Olivarez, C., Kunkle, K., & Sanchez, N. (2020). Three-peat, six drop, and excess hours, oh my! How Latinx community college transfer students understand state-level higher education policies. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, 27(1), 113-127.

Reports, Policy Briefs, & Public Scholarship

• Kunkle, K., & Burns, R. (2025). State higher education finance: FY 2024. State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). https://shef.sheeo.org/report/
• Kunkle, K., & Burns, R. (2024). Trends in state, local, student, and grant shares of education revenues. State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). https://shef.sheeo.org/insights-and-briefs/#reports
• Kunkle, K. (2024). State higher education finance: FY 2023. State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). https://shef.sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SHEEO_SHEF_FY23_Report.pdf
• Kunkle, K., Harnisch, T., & Burns, R. (2023). State higher education leaders’ perspectives on college affordability and the state-federal relationship in higher education financing. State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). https://sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/state-federal_partnership.pdf
• Kunkle, K., & Laderman, S. (2023). State higher education finance: FY 2022. State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). https://shef.sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/SHEEO_SHEF_FY22_Report.pdf
• Laderman, S., & Kunkle, K. (2022). State higher education finance: FY 2021. State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). https://shef.sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/SHEEO_SHEF_FY21_Report.pdf

Selected Refereed Presentations

• Kunkle, K., Laderman, S., & Harnisch, T. (2023). State Higher Education Leaders’ Perspectives on Federal Partnership Programs for College Affordability. Research paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
• Kunkle, K., Laderman, S., & Harnisch, T. (2023). State perspectives on federal partnership programs for college affordability. Research paper presented at the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP), Denver, CO.
• Jones, V., Kunkle, K., Haynes, L., Anderson, S., & Guess, A. (Nov. 2022). Making Meaning of Intersectional Identity: Becoming a Tier-One Research and Hispanic Serving Institution. Research paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
• Kunkle, K., & Taylor, B. J. (Nov. 2021). Statewide promise programs: An event history analysis. Research paper to be presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, San Juan, PR.

Dr. Kunkle's Curriculum Vitae