Elizabeth Rainey EdD

Assistant Provost

Education

EdD, The University of Texas at Austin, 2021

M.Ed., Columbia University, 2009

M.A., New York University, 2006

B.A., Georgetown University, 2000

Departments

Academic Affairs
Student Success Center
Special Studies

Bio

Elizabeth (Liz) Rainey has more than 20 years of experience in higher education administration at three universities. As the Assistant Provost for Student Success at Loyola, Liz oversees more than 20 full-time staff and 50 employees in the Pan-American Life Student Success Center. In addition to leading university-wide efforts to improve retention and completion rates, Liz oversees accessible education (disability services), academic advising, success coaching, career development and student employment, TRIO student support services, and tutoring resources. Liz is an InsideTrack-certified success coach and success coach trainer and a graduate of the Ignatian Colleagues Program.

Liz is the department chair for special studies, which houses a number of credit-bearing success and transition classes for students, including a class for students on academic probation. She teaches a first-year seminar course called, The College Multiverse, which aspires to teach students about the purpose, philosophy, and history of higher education. Liz is a Professor of Practice in the Teacher Education Department and also directs the First Year Seminars.

Liz was the first graduate of the executive doctorate program in higher education leadership at the University of Texas at Austin, where her research focused on students’ experiences, retention outcomes, and financial aid policy. She presents her research-based findings at national conferences, including the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA). She is a reviewer for the Journal of Student Financial Aid and the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success.

Prior to working at Loyola, Liz was an advising dean and adjunct reader for undergraduate admissions at Columbia University. She also worked in faculty support and admissions at New York University.

Make an appointment

Publications

Rainey, E. A. & Taylor, Z. W. (in press, 2025). “Is it Fall yet?” Collaborative faculty experiences teaching at-risk college students during emergency online operations. Journal of Collaboration for Equitable Change.

Buehler, P. &, Rainey, E. A. (2025). “Not the kind of student I am”: College students’ expression of agency in academic appeals. Journal of Thought. http://journalofthought.com/?p=1488

Maldonado, A., Taylor, Z. W., Ziegler, P., Rainey, E., Carter, D., George, D., & Weber-Wandel, K. (2024). Public Service Loan Forgiveness: A Historical Overview and Practical Implications for Higher Education Practitioners. Essays in Education, 30(2), 1-12. https://openriver.winona.edu/eie/vol30/iss2/4/

Rainey, E. A., & Taylor, Z. W. (2024). “Is it bad I don’t know this yet?”: At-promise college students, financial aid knowledge, and retention. Higher Education Politics and Economics. https://ojed.org/hepe/article/view/6439

Velez, G. M., Herteen, M., Rainey, E., Nemanich, S. & Jessup-Anger, J. E. (2024). First-year college students’ meaning making of the pandemic’s effects on their academics. Journal of Adolescent Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584241291584

Rainey, E. A., & Taylor, Z. W. (2024). “The struggle bus is full.”: How college faculty interpreted and navigated institutional policy shifts amid COVID-19. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies. http://dx.doi.org/10.61186/johepal.5.1.52

Demchuk, T., & Rainey, E. A. (2024). Hearing their stories: A phenomenological study in understanding Ed.D. completion. Texas Education Review. https://doi.org/10.26153/tsw/51991

Rainey, E. A., & Taylor, Z. W. (2024). “I had no idea”: At-risk college student knowledge of financial aid and resources. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 53(2). https://doi.org/10.55504/0884-9153.1793

Rainey, E.A., & Taylor, Z.W. (2023). “I feel like a bother”: COVID-era experiences of at-risk college students on academic probation and financial aid warning status. Journal of College Academic Support Programs, 6(1), 23-36. https://doi.org/10.58997/fa2

Rainey, E.A., & Taylor, Z.W. (2023). Communicating with college students during COVID-19: College student reflections on communication preferences and institutional best practices. Research Issues in Contemporary Education, 8(1), 102-137. http://www.leraweb.net/ojs/index.php/RICE/article/view/133

Rainey, E., & Taylor, Z. (2022). Reflecting on the brink: At-risk student experiences with online learning amid COVID-19. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 2(1), 25-53. https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss131398

Taylor, Z.W., Pereira, M., Rainey, E., Gururaj, S., Gibbs, B., Wiser, J., Benson, C., Childs, J., & Somers, P. (2022). Saying his name: How faith-based higher education leaders addressed the George Floyd murder. Religion and Education, 50(1), 39-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2022.2156262

Taylor, Z. W., Rainey, E.A., Charran, C., Holthaus, G., & Equiluz, L. (2022). Talk debt to me: An applied linguistics approach to exploring college student preferences for student loan debt letters. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 52(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.55504/0884-9153.1759

Activities

Students Working in College:
https://success.loyno.edu/studentsworking

Emerging from COVID-19:
https://www.marquette.edu/education/centers-and-clinics-research/emerging-from-covid-research.php