Stephanie Aguilar-Smith

Dr. Stephanie Aguilar-Smith is an Assistant Professor of Counseling and Higher Education at the University of North Texas. She earned her Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Administration and certificate in Chicano and Latino Studies from Michigan State University. She holds a Master’s in Public Administration, a B.A. in Journalism (Public Relations), and a B.A. in International Affairs from the University of Georgia.

Her specific research interests include Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Latinxs in higher education, and grant seeking and implementation in the collegiate context.

Before joining UNT, she worked at several research universities in a variety of areas including enrollment management, academic counseling, program development and evaluation, and writing center administration.

• McCambly, H., &Aguilar-Smith, S. (2024). Racialized patterns in the distribution of congressional pork: Implications for postsecondary equity and organizational transformation. AERA Open.

• Aguilar-Smith, S., &Doran, E. (2024). The expansion of Title V: A historical analysis of the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans’ program. Educational Policy, 38(2), 320-349. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048231153608

• McCambly, H., Aguilar-Smith, S, Felix, E., Hu, X., &Barber, L. (2023). Community colleges as racialized spaces: Outlining challenges and opportunities for equity. Community College Review, 55(4), 658–679. https://doi.org/10.1177/00915521231182121

• Aguilar-Smith, S., &Yun, J. T. (2023). Toward ensuring the equitable allocation of federal funding: An analysis of Hispanic-serving institutions’ pursuit and receipt of Title V grants. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 31(58), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.31.7281

• Ortega, G., Aguilar-Smith, S., Lizalde, G., &Porras, C. (2023). Barriers to power: Exploring the troubled trajectories of Latinx executive leaders at Hispanic-serving institutions. Innovative Higher Education. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-023-09649-6

• Marin, P., &Aguilar-Smith, S. (2023). The evolving narrative of Hispanic serving institutions? A systematic review of more than 20 years of research. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 22(4), 446–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/15381927221137691

• Aguilar-Smith, S. (2023). A critical qualitative study of inequities in Hispanic-serving institutions’ grant-seeking competitiveness. Educational Policy, 37(6), 1637–1671. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048221120272

• Aguilar-Smith, S. (2021). Seeking to serve or $erve? Hispanic-serving institutions’ pursuit of racialized funding. AERA Open, 7.  https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211057097

• Aguilar-Smith, S., &Gonzales, L. D. (2021). A study of community college faculty work expectations: Generous educators and their managed generosity. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 45(3), 184–204.  https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2019.1666062