Higher Education Analyst
Bio
A native of the rural, piney woods of East Texas, Josh Leonard is a transplant to North Carolina. He began working professionally in Higher Education as an undergraduate student in 2003, and he’s never left the field. After paying for his own degree and learning about the cost of education, he discovered the importance of financial aid and how essential it is to the college-going process. He’s done with his student loans, but he’s still trying to pay forward the kindness & assistance he received from so many others. As such, Josh considers working in financial aid a privileged opportunity to assist the next generation of students.
Josh joined Duke University in December 2020 as the office’s financial aid analyst, but, prior to that, he spent a decade in financial aid as a counselor, mentor, aid database developer, private consultant, client service manager, outreach team lead, work-study program manager, and a few other things. These days he focuses on generating and analyzing data to help answer questions about how to allocated resources to best help those in need; as a self-styled “data nerd,” he absolutely loves the challenge.
Josh has a B.S., M.B., and M.S. from Texas A&M University, and he is currently completing his PhD in Higher Education Administration at NC State where his dissertation work focuses on the effects and effectiveness of the Federal Work-Study program. He spends his free time hanging out with his very cool wife & awesome daughter, spoiling their three dogs, and dreaming up new creations for his board game development company. . . occasionally he gets some sleep.