Tolani Britton uses quasi-experimental methods to explore the impact of policies on students’ transition from secondary school to higher education, as well as access and retention in higher education. Recent work explores whether the disproportionate increase in incarceration of Black males for drug possessions and manufacture increased gaps in college enrollment rates by race and gender over two time periods- after the passage of the Anti-Drug Act from 1986 - 1993 and after the passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act from 1995 - 2000.
Prior to earning her doctorate, Professor Britton worked as a high school math teacher and college counselor in New York City public schools and as a policy analyst for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France. Her scholastic credentials include a Master of Arts in Economics from Tufts University, a Master of Arts in French Cultural Studies from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in both Economics and French Literature from Tufts University.
Professor Britton is a 2021 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow. She also received a Russell Sage Foundation Pipeline Grant for Emerging Scholars in 2020 and was a 2016 National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellow.
Recent Publications
- Educational Opportunity and the Carceral System: Sentencing Policies and Black Men's College Enrollment
- Does Locked Up Mean Locked Out? The Effects of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 on Black Male Students’ College Enrollment
- Do students who fail to plan, plan to fail? Effects of Individualized Learning Plans on Postsecondary Transition
Media Coverage
Economics of higher education
