Andrew Howard Nichols Higher Education Research Fellowship
Andrew Howard Nichols, Ph.D., former senior director of higher education research and data analytics at EdTrust, passed away in early 2021. Shortly thereafter, EdTrust’s Board of Directors decided to honor Dr. Nichols’ legacy by establishing the Andrew Howard Nichols Higher Education Research Fellowship. The goal of the fellowship is to support higher education scholars who are committed to researching college affordability and improving access and outcomes for students of color.
Dr. Nichols dedicated his life’s work to fighting for equity in higher education, demonstrating an unrelenting commitment to thorough data analysis, research, and advocacy aimed at promoting college affordability and improving outcomes for students of color, as evidenced by his research publications. In addition to expanding the original College Results website, he authored several seminal research papers:
- Broken Mirrors: Black Representation at Public Colleges
- Broken Mirrors II: How Many Latino Students Are at Public Colleges & Universities?
- How Affordable Are Public Colleges in Your State?
- Segregation Forever? The Continued Underrepresentation of Black and Latino Undergraduates at the Nation’s 101 Most Selective Public Colleges and Universities
“Drew left an impact on all whom he encountered. He truly was a force of nature, but even the strongest storms lose their strength. We miss Drew but we will never forget his passion, his friendship, and his unwavering commitment to students who face the most injustices.”
—Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president
Current Fellow (2025-26): Brianna Huynh
A former community college student, Brianna Huynh discovered her passion for education policy during the implementation of AB 705, a statewide reform that expanded access to transfer-level coursework in California. Witnessing this policy shift firsthand sparked her interest in the systems that influence student access, learning, and success.
As EdTrust’s 2025–26 Andrew Nichols Higher Education Research Fellow, she will contribute to analyses of college affordability, P–20 math policy, and the postsecondary experiences of students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. Previously, she supported EdTrust’s higher education team as a research and data intern, where she examined college enrollment trends, affordability metrics, and equity gaps across higher education institutions.
Brianna’s research lies at the intersection of mathematics education and higher education policy. As a second-year master’s student in mathematics at Cal Poly Pomona, she is completing a thesis on the experiences of community college transfer students transitioning to upper-division mathematics. She also has valuable experience as a college trigonometry instructor, data and systems intern with APIA Scholars, and a policy fellow with the Campaign for College Opportunity, where she supported advocacy and implementation efforts to advance California’s math pathways and community college transfer reforms.
In all her roles, Brianna has been dedicated to using data, research, and storytelling to illuminate students’ experiences and strengthen the policies that shape their educational trajectories. After graduation, she aims to continue bridging research, policy, and practice to build an education system that truly meets the needs of today’s students. Brianna holds a B.A. in mathematics from Pomona College.
Past Fellows
2024-25 Fellow: Paulina Fraser
Born and raised in San Diego, California, Paulina Fraser is a first-generation Filipina American and a proud product of the California State University (CSU) system. Paulina earned her Ph.D. in educational studies from the University of Michigan and her M.A.Ed. from San Francisco State University. Her work focuses on educational equity and advocacy for communities of color, specifically those that have been historically excluded through research, policy, and curriculum reform.
As the 2024–25 Nichols Fellow, Paulina has continued her work in these areas and will work with EdTrust as a higher education consultant when her fellowship ends. Some of the projects she has led have focused on basic needs and SNAP policies, postsecondary pathways, universal FAFSA policies, and land-grant institutions. In this role, Paulina has utilized her expertise in qualitative research, design, and analysis to support the development of policy briefs and legislative recommendations.
Before coming to EdTrust, Paulina served as a program manager at the University of Michigan’s School of Education community-based research center. In this role, she coordinated research projects aimed at supporting schools and communities throughout metro Detroit, with a particular emphasis on dismantling the school-to-prison nexus and addressing school closures. Paulina’s research has also focused on ethnic studies policy and curriculum development, with an emphasis on Asian American and Filipina American history.
2023-24 Fellow: Omar Ibrahim
As a first-generation, low-income, two-time graduate, Omar understands the barriers and obstacles to accessing higher education and achieving success. His lived experience fuels his passion for advocating for equity and opportunities for all students.
As EdTrust’s 2023-24 Nichols Fellow for the higher education research team, he will support Ed Trust’s research, data, and policy initiatives aimed at achieving equitable outcomes and opportunities for students nationwide.
Prior to joining EdTrust, Omar served as a student success coach with InsideTrack, where he supported students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly Black institutions (PBIs) during their freshman years, as well as those seeking to re-enroll in college. Omar was also a member of the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America’s policy corps, advocating for higher education policy change.
Omar recently completed his M.S. in social policy from the University of Pennsylvania. While earning his master’s degree, he worked as a research assistant for SAFELab, a research laboratory focused on the intersection of social media, AI, Black grief, and gun violence. He also holds a B.A. in leadership studies from the University of Richmond.
2022-23 Fellow: Sabreyna Reese
Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, Sabreyna Reese is dedicated to improving access to education and retention for Black, Latino, low-income, and rural populations. As the first Lead Campus Policy Fellow with the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, she studied and advocated for student-serving policies on college campuses across Missouri. During her time as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, she published research examining the factors affecting Black student success on campus.
Sabreyna holds a B.S. in psychology with a minor in child and family development from the University of Central Missouri, where she served as a student-leader in the Postsecondary Equity Network (PEN), a coalition of over a dozen higher education institutions and community partners working to eliminate equity gaps in degree completion for Black, Indigenous, and Latino students, as well as students from low-income backgrounds in Missouri.
Before joining Ed Trust, Sabreyna was a fiscal policy summer intern at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, where she assisted in revising the outcomes-based funding model for the state and examined tuition-setting and student demand for higher education. She was also a qualitative research assistant under Ebony McGee, Ph.D., of Explorations in Diversifying Engineering Faculty Initiative (EDEFI), where she investigated the institutional and social factors that affect decision-making, career choices, and career satisfaction for engineering and computing doctoral students, candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty who have been marginalized by race and/or gender.
Currently, Sabreyna is pursuing a master’s degree in higher education administration at Vanderbilt University. After graduation, she plans to continue her commitment to education by focusing on using evidence-based policies, practices, and data to better serve under-represented populations and improve student retention in postsecondary education, with a focus on economic development and prosperity.
2021-22 Fellow: Gabriel Montague
A North Carolina native, Gabriel Montague is committed to developing data-driven practices and policies that amplify the experiences of students, educators, and families who have faced systemic barriers. In 2021, he earned his B.S. in statistics from North Carolina State University, where he acquired a range of experience in higher education, including roles in university housing, new student programs, multicultural student affairs, enrollment management and services, and the office of undergraduate admissions. As an undergraduate admissions intern, he engaged with prospective students and families to ensure that the perspectives of all students were represented and considered in the recruitment and application process. In his role as a student data and technology intern, he used institutional data to provide recommendations to university leadership that supported test-optional admissions policies.
During his time as the inaugural Nichols Fellow, he earned his master’s degree in education policy and analysis from Harvard University, where he served as a diversity recruitment intern for the Harvard Graduate School of Education Office of Admissions. In 2023, he joined the EdTrust staff as a higher education research analyst.