Amanda Wahlstedt is a research assistant on CCRC’s Louisiana corequisite project. She helps schedule interviews, prepares and organizes site visits, and assists with qualitative data collection, organization, and analysis. She is passionate about ensuring postsecondary education is accessible and appealing to students.
Wahlstedt is an MA candidate in the Economics and Education program at Teachers College Columbia University. Previously, she studied as a QuestBridge National Match Scholar at Wellesley College and graduated with a BA in the first class of Education Studies majors. During her undergraduate studies, she researched makerspace documentation and evaluation in Kentucky schools—which was awarded a Pamela Daniels Fellowship,—using technology for community-based problem solving, practical skills for student self determination, and the systemic barriers to success for first-generation/low income students at elite colleges. Currently, alongside her research assistantship, she serves as a senior advisor to the KY Student Voice Team, focusing on education policy and college counseling. Amanda is a first-generation college graduate, if you don’t count her three older brothers, and aspires to be a first generation PhD student. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her snuggled up with her cat, Splotches.