Pilar Mendoza is a full professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA) at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her research interests include international and comparative higher education; coloniality; neoliberalism, globalization, academic capitalism; college student retention; financial aid; and the professoriate. Dr. Mendoza’s engaged scholarship has significantly impacted internationalization efforts and the development of higher education in Latin America. Her efforts have brought over 70 U.S. faculty, students, and administrators from multiple institutions in the U.S. to Colombia for a variety of internationalization experiences. She is the Founder of the International Research Center for the Development of Education (CIIDE), a unique partnership with UNIMINUTO, the largest university system in Colombia serving marginalized students throughout the country. She has been recognized with multiple awards including the 2018 MU International Engagement Award, the 2019 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award, and the 2024 ASHE CIHE Award for Significant Research on International Higher Education among others. In 2025, Dr. Mendoza was inducted into the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship (ACES). Her work has attracted external funding from USAID, the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright U.S. Scholars Program, the U.S. State Department, the Reid Hoffman Foundation, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Areas of Expertise

• International and comparative higher education
• Coloniality, neoliberalism, globalization, and academic capitalism
• College student retention and success; college affordability; the professoriate