Sean Simone

Sean Simone joined the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) in 2025 as the vice president of research and the director of the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Education. Simone brings nearly two decades of expertise in state and federal education data and policy.

Prior to joining COE, Simone worked at the National Center for Education Statistics within the U.S. Department of Education. Over a 10-year period, he served as associate commissioner, branch chief, and survey director, overseeing education longitudinal surveys, financial aid studies, and institutional education data collections.

In addition, Simone has expertise in workforce development research and served as the director of research and evaluation at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University (NJ). In this capacity, he was the project director for New Jersey’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System, connecting education data to other state data sources. He continues to teach graduate-level courses at Rutgers.

Simone holds a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Maryland, College Park.