Higher Education Graduate Fellow
Hometown: Oxnard, California
Schools/Degrees: California State University – Long Beach, M.S., Counseling University of Southern California, Ed.D. Candidate, Education Leadership-Higher Education
University of Southern California, Ed.D. Candidate, Education Leadership-Higher Education
Placement: The Education Trust
Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, Jose is the proud son of migrant farm workers. His family immigrated to a small farming town in Southern California at the age of five. Jose earned bachelor’s degrees in social science and English in 2005 from San Diego State University. While at SDSU he was actively involved in student life and Greek life. In 2005 he moved to Long Beach, California to pursue a M.Sc. in counseling with an emphasis in student development in higher education from California State University, Long Beach. Because of his research on migrant college students, he was awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship and began his professional work as a counselor for the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), co-authoring a federal multi-million dollar grant to implement CAMP at the community college level.
Jose is pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of Southern California in educational leadership with a focus on higher education administration. Jose’s work on migrant, undocumented, and Latino populations strives to close gaps in access, equity, and achievement. Through his experience in CHCI, he hopes to further his research and practice focusing on macro policy and political issues to ensure quality impact in his home base, specifically at the community college level.