State higher education leaders across the country are balancing a wide array of policy priorities and concerns going into 2026. The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) asked its members to identify their top policy issues for the new year in a survey distributed to chief executive officers in November 2025. States face a multitude of higher education policy issues, with some topics consistently among the top priorities each…

The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) welcomed Dr. Stephen Mayfield to the team earlier this week. In his role as Senior Policy Analyst, Dr. Mayfield will focus on supporting SHEEO's research and policy initiatives, with a focus on state postsecondary data systems, noncredit mobility, and student basic needs. Dr. Mayfield most recently served as a Research Education Analyst at RTI International, where he worked on analytic tasks for the U. S.…

The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) is pleased to welcome Dr. Corey Gheesling to the team. In his role as Associate Vice President, Dr. Gheesling will focus on building SHEEO’s workforce development portfolio to complement and engage state higher education agencies in their continued efforts to meet economic and workforce demands. With a distinguished career in higher education policy and practice, Dr. Gheesling brings expertise in aligning academic systems with…