Melissa Rivas

Melissa Rivas is the director of student success and coaching at AASCU. She previously served as associate director for the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities at APLU, where she had worked since 2018 supporting the success of low-income, minoritized, first-generation, and transfer students. She has previous experience in higher education, including work at Excelencia. She has worked directly with first-generation, low-income students of color in San Francisco and Oakland, California. At uAspire, she helped students navigate the complicated financial aid process, guiding students through the FAFSA, CA Dream Act, CSS Profile verification forms, and more. She earned a master’s degree in higher education student affairs and international education policy at the University of Maryland, College Park and a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in education from the University of California, Berkeley.