Diana Torres (she/her)

Diana Torres (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change program at UCLA. Originally from Riverside, California, she earned her bachelor’s degree in education and sociology from UC Riverside. Most recently, she served as a Senior Policy Fellow at the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute, where she led evaluation and assessment efforts for the Policy Fellows program. She has also worked as a Data Fellow at The Education Trust, contributing to projects on post-college outcomes for underrepresented student groups. Diana has held teaching assistantships for courses in introductory R, statistics, and undergraduate research methods.

Her research broadly examines how students finance their postsecondary education and the implications of financial aid policy for equity and economic mobility. She is particularly interested in issues of affordability, labor market outcomes, and access to educational opportunities for first-generation Latino students.

As the proud daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, Diana’s work is guided by a commitment to advancing equity in higher education and dismantling structural barriers that limit opportunity and social mobility.