Charlie Eaton

Dr. Charlie Eaton is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Merced, where he co-founded the Higher Education, Race, and the Economy (HERE) Lab. His research focuses on the interplay between economic elites and disadvantaged groups, particularly within higher education systems. He holds a Ph.D. (2016), M.A. (2011), and B.A. (2002) in Sociology from UC Berkeley and New York University, respectively.

Eaton’s work investigates financialization’s role in exacerbating inequality in higher education, including Wall Street’s influence on college governance, predatory for-profit college practices, and the growing resource divide between elite institutions and public universities. His award-winning book *Bankers in the Ivory Tower* (2022) examines how financialization has reshaped universities into vehicles for elite consolidation of wealth and power while disadvantaging marginalized students.

His research employs mixed-methods approaches, including data carpentry to analyze financial ties between universities and investors, congressional hearing transcripts, and interviews with stakeholders. Key areas of current inquiry include online education’s racial and class dynamics, public university enrollment patterns, and endowment investment strategies.

Eaton has advised policymakers on student debt cancellation and equitable funding models, advocating for solutions like wealth-based Pell Grants to address racial wealth gaps. His work has been featured in major media outlets such as *The New York Times*, *The Washington Post*, and *TIME*.