Ashley Clayton
Jo Ellen Levy Yates Endowed Associate Professor
Bachelor's Degree: Interior Design, Virginia Tech, 2005
Master's Degree: Higher Education Administration, Florida International University, 2009
MBA: Business Administration, Louisiana State University, 2023
PhD: Educational Research and Policy Analysis (Higher Education), North Carolina State
University, 2016
Post Doctorate: McBee Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia, 2016-2017
Office: 202C Peabody Hall
Email: aclayton@lsu.edu
Website: www.ashleybclayton.com
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Biography
Ashley B. Clayton, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Higher Education Administration program at Louisiana State University. She holds the Jo Ellen Levy Yates Endowed Professorship. Clayton earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and her master’s degree from Florida International University. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Research and Policy Analysis (Higher Education) at North Carolina State University and completed her postdoctoral appointment at the University of Georgia's Institute of Higher Education. Recently, she earned her MBA from the E.J. Ourso College of Business at LSU. Prior to becoming a faculty member, she worked in undergraduate admissions and TRIO Upward Bound.
Dr. Clayton’s research agenda broadly focuses on practices and policies that address postsecondary access, equity, and success. Her work often examines postsecondary outcomes for underserved student populations, including first-generation college students, low-income students, rural students, and Students of Color. Many of her research projects examine college access and success interventions, college advising and admissions, PK-20 pathways, and financial aid.
Selected Publications
Clayton, A. B., McClay, L. P., Davis, R. D., & Tevis, T. L. (2023). Considering both HBCU and PWI options: Exploring the college choice process of first-year Black students. The Journal of Higher Education, 94(1), 34-59. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2022.2131966
Billings, M. S., Clayton, A. B., & Worsham, R. E. (2022). FAFSA and beyond: How advisers reduce burdens in the financial aid process. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 51(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.55504/0884-9153.1737
Clayton, A. B., Worsham, R. E., & *Reavis, G. (2022). Summer melt and delayed enrollment: Unpacking high school seniors’ college intentions and later decisions. Journal of The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 34(1), 61–78. www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/fyesit/fyesit/2022/00000034/00000001/art00004
Toutkoushian, R. K., *May-Trifiletti, J. A., & Clayton, A. B. (2021). From “first in family” to “first to finish”: Does college graduation vary by how first-generation college status is defined? Educational Policy, 35(3), 481–521. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904818823753
Worsham, R. E., Clayton, A. B., & Gayles, J. G. (2021). Exploring rural engineering students’ college choice process at two land-grant universities. The Rural Educator, 42(3), 28–44. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v42i3.1181
Clayton, A. B., & Umbach, P. D. (2020). Making it free and easy: Exploring the effects of North Carolina College Application Week on college access. The Review of Higher Education, 44(1), 87–119. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2020.0036
Whatley, M. E., & Clayton, A. B. (2020). Study abroad for low-income students: The relationship between need-based aid and access to education abroad. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 49(2), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.55504/0884-9153.1679
Clayton, A. B. (2019). Helping students navigate the college choice process: The experiences and practices of college advising professionals in public high schools. The Review of Higher Education, 42(4), 1401–1429. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0070
Clayton, A. B., & Peters, B. A. (2019). The desegregation of land-grant institutions in the 1950s: The first African American students at NC State University and Virginia Tech. The Journal of Negro Education, 88(1), 75–92. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.1.0075
Means, D. R., Clayton, A. B., Conzelmann, J. G., Baynes, P., & Umbach, P. D. (2016). Bounded aspirations: Rural, African American high school students and college access. The Review of Higher Education, 39(4), 543–569. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2016.0035
Selected Presentations
Tevis, T. L., & Clayton, A. B. (2022, November). An exploration of counselors’ college knowledge in California Title I high schools [Paper presentation]. 47th Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Clayton, A. B., Breeden, R. L., & Davis, T. J. (2022, April). “My entire support system for graduate school”: Black students’ experiences in a McNair scholars program [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
Clayton, A. B., Cutler White, C., Sublett, C., Blaney, J., Felix, E., & Grote, D. (2022, April). Expanding community college opportunities: Access, transfer, and completion [Panel]. Annual Conference of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges, Tempe, AZ.
Clayton, A. B., Freeman, H., Gonzales, C., Gros, K., Mills, D., Simon, D., & Simon, L. (2022, March). Applications, admissions, and assistance: Promoting college access through service-learning [Panel]. Gulf-South Summit.
May-Trifiletti, J. A., Toutkoushian, R. K., & Clayton, A. B. (2021, November). Unpacking definitions of “first-generation college student” and their outcomes: Differences between one- and two-parent families [Poster presentation]. 46th Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Selected Grants/Funded Projects
Institutional Agents: Exploring High School Counselors’ College Knowledge in California
Title I Schools:
Founder: The Spencer Foundation
Grant amount: $49,983
Role: Co-PI
Time of Service: 2020-2022
Exploring the College Choice Process, Transition, and Overall Experiences of Black
Students at HBCUs and PWIs
Founder: Dean’s Circle Grant Program, College of Human Sciences and Education, Louisiana
State University
Grant amount: $5,000
Role: PI
Time of Service: 2019-2020
Awards
ASHE/Ascendium Fellow & Research Team Member (2022)
Nevada Insitute, Association for the Study of Higher Education
Rising Faculty Research Award (2022)
Alumni Association, Louisiana State University
Non-Tenured Faculty Award in the Humanities and Social Sciences (2020)
Phi Kappa Phi, Louisiana State University
Editorships
Editorial Review Board Member
- Innovative Higher Education (2022-2024)
- Journal of First-Generation Student Success (2020-2023)
- Journal of First-Year Experience and Students in Transition (2018-2023)
- Review of Higher Education (2022-2025 Term)