Ramy Abbady ’16

Overview

• BA, Educational Studies, Vassar College
• MA, Higher Education and Student Affairs, University of San Francisco
• Pending Doctorate, Sociology of Education, NYU

Ramy Abbady (he/him) is an educational sociologist with ample experience in higher education policy analysis, practice, and research. He is currently a Research Associate in the Higher Learning program at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where he analyzes the postsecondary sector to provide insights on the foundation’s prior and future grantmaking. He is also in the final months of his PhD in sociology of education at New York University, where his research has tackled the racialized effects of college costs on student loan debt and enrollment decisions. His doctoral research has been recognized through his receipt of the highly competitive National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation dissertation fellowship. Ramy graduated from Vassar College with a bachelor’s degree in education and minor in physics, and from the University of San Francisco with a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs. He also worked for four years in student affairs roles across the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally from Long Island, Ramy is now based in Brooklyn, where he looks forward to his post-dissertation life.

Advice to Students:

What you do immediately after Vassar is highly unlikely to be what you do forever. It is only in the last couple of years, i.e. 7-9 years post-graduation, that most of my Vassar friends and I have really found our footing in life and felt a sense of stability in our careers and lives in general. I still feel some impostor syndrome over the societally recognized version of success I’ve had recently. Put simply, everything takes time. Take advantage of your world-class liberal arts education to develop your critical thinking skills, writing, and breadth of knowledge. That will prepare you better for the post-Vassar world than you think!