José A. Cabrales
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
AASCU

José A. Cabrales serves as the vice president and chief operating officer where he oversees the operations of the office of the president, AASCU Consulting, research, and membership services. He also serves as the secretary for the AASCU board of directors. Prior to these roles, he worked as the senior director of student success programs and operations, where he provided strategic vision, leadership, and support for developing and building a plan for the launch of a student success strategy.
Prior to AASCU, Cabrales worked as a senior associate for higher education practice at The Education Trust and as a program manager for community engagement at Excelencia in Education. Cabrales brings to this work approximately 20 years of professional higher education, nonprofit, advocacy, and association experience.
As a first-generation college student and a native of Watsonville, California, Cabrales earned a doctorate from Iowa State University in educational leadership and policy studies, a master’s degree from Michigan State University in student affairs administration, and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Santa Clara University.