Kevin Kinser is Professor of Education Policy Studies and Senior Scientist in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University. A graduate of Columbia University's Teachers College (New York), Kinser studies leadership, technologies, and organizational structures of institutions of higher education, including the public policies related to private for-profit institutions and international cross-border higher education. Kinser is co-founder of the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT) which investigates the scope and impact of international branch campuses worldwide, and the incoming director of the Program on Research on Private Higher Education (PROPHE). Kinser is the author or editor of six books and more than 70 articles, chapters, and scholarly reports, and he is regularly invited to present his research at conferences in the United States and abroad. Because of his research, Kinser is regularly sought out by national and international media outlets for commentary on higher education trends and current issues in the US and overseas. His most recent book is II Global Trends in Tertiary Education Quality Assurance: Challenges and Opportunities in Internal and External Quality Assurance (2026, Brill).
Recent publications
Zipf, S., Kinser, K., Turner, H., and Sun, J.C. (2025 January). Online Students’ Bill of Rights. The Institute for College Access and Success. Available: https://ticas.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/OPM-Student-Bill-of-Rights-Jan-2025.pdf
Turner, H., Sun, J.C., Kinser, K., and Zipf, S. (2024, December). Financial Flows to Online Program Managers: Making “Sense” of the Convoluted Arrangement. The Institute for College Access and Success. Available: https://ticas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/OPM-Financial-Flows-Analysis-December-2024.pdf
Kinser, K., Zipf, S., Sun, J.C., and Turner, H. (2024, March). White-Labeling Online Higher Education: Rebranding and Repackaging Services and Products in Higher Education. The Institute for College Access and Success. Available: https://ticas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/OPM-White-Paper-White-Labeling-Online-3.14.24.pdf
Sun, J. C., Turner, H., Kinser, K., and Zipf, S. (2024, March). Signing on the Dotted Line: Policy and College Leadership Considerations of OPM Contracts. The Institute for College Access and Success. Available: https://ticas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/OPM-White-Paper-Contract-Considerations-3.14.24-1.pdf
Crombie-Borgos, J., Kinser, K. and Kline, Lindsey (2023). The Borderless Market for Open, Distance and Digital Education. In Olaf Zawacki-Richter and Insung Jung, eds. Handbook of Open, Distance, and Digital Education. Springer's Major Reference Works Series. Springer Press.
Cheslock, John J., Kinser, K., Zipf, Sarah T., and Ra, Eunjong (2022). Examining the OPM: Form, function, and policy implications. Available: https://edarxiv.org/py3sz/
Opportunity America Working Group on For-Profit Colleges. (December 2021). Accountability in Higher Education: For-Profit Colleges and Beyond. [member of working group for collaboratively authored report]
Kinser, K. and *Zipf, S.T. (2019). Assessing a Moving Target: Research on For-Profit Higher Education in the United States. In Michael B. Paulsen, ed. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research (Vol XXIV). Springer Press.
Lane, J.E., Kinser, K. and Zhang, L. (2018). Cross-Border Educational Accountability: Navigating Accountability Expectations when Educational Provision Crosses Borders. In Ellen Hazelkorn, Hamish Coates, and Alexander McCormick (eds.). Research Handbook on Quality, Performance and Accountability in Higher Education (Edward Elgar Press).
Recent invited lectures
Cheslock, J, and Kinser K. (2022 January), Examining the OPM: Form, Function, and Policy Implications. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Washington, DC.
Kinser K. (2021 November). Online program management: Issues in state policy. SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference. Washington, DC
On this website:
Levy, D. et al. (2020). How COVID‐19 Puts Private Higher Education at Especially High Risk—and Not: Early Observations Plus Propositions for On-Going Global Exploration. Program for Research on Private Higher Education Working Paper #22. Albany, NY. Available: http://prophe.org/cache/2254169_WP22-PROPHE-COVID.pdf
Numerous media mentions during this period as well.
Publications available on this website
Activities
Kinser, K. (2015). Quality of teaching in the context of increasing non-public providers of higher education: Background Paper. Prepared for the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of Recommendations Concerning Teaching Personnel. Paris: UNESCO. [Paper Available:http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---sector/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_364833.pdf]
Kinser, K. (2014, July). For-Profit Pathways into STEM. Prepared for the National Research Council’s and National Academy of Engineering’s Committee on Barriers and Opportunities to 2- and 4-year Undergraduate STEM Degrees. [Paper Available: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_088833.pdf]
Kinser, K. (2014). What We Know: Research About For-Profit Higher Education. Paper presented at Developing a Research Agenda: Tax Paying Colleges and Universities/For-Profit Higher Education. University of Southern California Pullias Center. [Paper available: http://www.uscrossier.org/pullias/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Developing-a-Research-Agenda-ALL.pdf]. Los Angeles, CA. April 29.
Kinser, K. (2013). Paying for For-Profit Higher Education: Implications of the United States Case. In Donald Heller and Claire Callender, Student Financing of Higher Education: A Comparative Perspective. (pp. 98-114). London: Routledge.
Kinser, K. (2013). The Quality-Profit Assumption. International Higher Education, 71, 12-13.
Lane, J.E. and Kinser, K. (2011). Reconsidering Privatization in Cross-Border Engagements: The Sometimes Public Nature of Private Activity. Higher Education Policy, 24. pp. 255-273. [winner of the 2010 International Association of Universities – Palgrave Prize in Higher Education Policy Research]
Kinser, K. (2011). Quality Assurance in Cross-Border Higher Education. In Lane, J.E. and Kinser, K., The Multi National University: Leadership, Administration, and Governance of International Branch Campuses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Lane, J.E. and Kinser, K. (2011). The Cross-Border Education Policy Context: Educational Hubs, Trade Liberalization, and National Sovereignty. In Lane, J.E. and Kinser, K., The Multi National University: Leadership, Administration, and Governance of International Branch Campuses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kinser, K. and Hill, B. (2011). Higher Education in Tumultuous Times—Facing Market Forces—Promoting the Common Good: A Transatlantic Dialogue. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
Kinser, K. (2010). A Global Perspective on For-Profit Higher Education. In Learning for Earning in a Globalized Society: For-profit Colleges and Universities as Schools and Businesses, William G. Tierney, Vicente M. Lechuga & Guilbert Hentschke, eds. pp. 145-170. Sterling, VA: Stylus Press.
Other Activities since 2010: Invited Presentations and Lectures
Kinser, K. (2012). Mapping the For-Profit Higher Education Landscape. Keynote address at conference on Access, Competition, and For-Profit Higher Education, Duke University, Durham, NC, September 21.
Kinser, K. (2012). Privatization in Tertiary Education: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Joint AERA-BERA symposium presented at the British Educational Research Association, Manchester, UK, September 5.
Kinser, K. (2012). Foreign Education Outposts: Models and Variations of International Branch Campuses. Paper presented at the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, June 2. Jeju, South Korea.
Kinser, K. et al. (2012). The Observatory's IBC report: Summary findings. Symposium Presented at the Observatory for Borderless Higher Education Global Forum. April 25. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kinser, K. et al. (2012). For-Profit U. Webinar sponsored by Service Employees International Union. February 2. Pittsburgh, PA and online.
Kinser, K. et al. (2011). Students at Risk: The Shifting Roles of Public Higher Education and For-Profit Colleges and Universities. Symposium presented at the Sloan Consortium International Conference on On-Line Learning. November 10. Orlando, FL.
Kinser, K. (2011). Access Contributions of F or-Profit Higher Education. Webinar for the 2011 Student Success Webinar Series, Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation. June 16. (online). [based off of PROPHE working paper]
Kinser, K. and Jason E. Lane (2011). Mobility of Programmes, Off‐shore Campuses, Distance Education: Broadening access to international opportunities? Plenary session. International Association of Universities 4th Global Meeting. April 12. New Delhi, India.
Kinser, K. (2011) For-Profit Higher Education: Issues for Admissions Officers. Webinar for National Association for College Admission Counseling. January 25. (online).
Kinser, K. (2010). Current Issues and Future Prospects in For-Profit Higher Education. Syracuse University. November 9. Syracuse, NY.
Numerous media mentions during this period as well.
