Lauren McGuire joined SHEEO in May 2025 as a State Policy Intern. During her time at SHEEO, Lauren will support the Strong Foundations project, where she will analyze the 2025 survey results and share the findings through reports and dashboard developments. Lauren will also support the rural focus of this project by conducting focus groups and analyzing the findings to share with research and data professionals at SHEEO agencies.

Lauren is a doctoral candidate at North Carolina State University studying educational leadership, policy, and human development. Her research interests include labor organizing in higher education, state policy diffusion and collaboration, civic education, and college access.

Lauren earned her bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning from Michigan State University, where she learned the value of research-practice partnerships. She also holds a Master of Public Policy from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development. While at Vanderbilt, she leveraged her data analysis skills to improve academic affairs policies and procedures, in addition to gaining valuable research administration experience.