A native New Yorker, Blanca E. Vega is the daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants. Born and raised near the Columbia University campus, Blanca was influenced by the racial and economic stratification of the residents from the Upper West Side and its relationship to access in elite institutions of higher education.

Blanca obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Brandeis University, a Master of Arts degree in Higher Education at New York University, and is currently a Doctoral student in the Higher and Postsecondary Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests include examining the role of higher education on the construction of race and racism, exploring racial dynamics in state political culture and their effects on higher education policy, and studying the Latino academic pipeline. Presently, Blanca is analyzing the politics of in-state tuition policies for undocumented immigrants with Dr. Kevin Dougherty. She is also a graduate research fellow for The New Jersey Hispanic Research and Information Center where she has completed an oral history project profiling the Ecuadorian community in New Jersey.