Elise Miller McNeely serves as Head of Data at Peterson’s, where she leads strategy and development for postsecondary data products and institutional reporting. She brings more than two decades of experience in higher education data policy, research, and analytics, with a focus on improving the quality, transparency, and use of data to inform institutional decision-making and public understanding.

Previously, McNeely served as Senior Program Manager at Ithaka S+R, where she led national research initiatives on postsecondary outcomes and state data systems, including work with the Postsecondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset. Earlier in her career, she was Director of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) at the National Center for Education Statistics, where she oversaw federal data collections and reporting standards for U.S. higher education institutions. She has also held leadership roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, AccessLex Institute, Tennessee SCORE, and national higher education associations.

McNeely has worked extensively with state agencies, institutions, and national organizations to strengthen postsecondary data infrastructure and policy. She is a longtime contributor to the Association for Institutional Research and has served in leadership roles with the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from The Catholic University of America and a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Current Term

2026-2029