Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza

Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza is an Assistant Professor of Counseling and College Student Personnel at the Graduate School of Education at California Lutheran University. Her current research interests revolve around Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), particularly dual- and multiple-designated Minority-Serving Institutions, including Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and federal racial data classifications. Prior to her doctoral journey, she worked full-time as the Student Affairs Officer in the UCLA Asian American Studies Department, where she was part of the later advocacy effort for the Pilipino Studies minor (the first in the University of California system) and coordinated UCLA's inaugural Ethnic and Indigenous Studies Welcome. 

Kristine is a proud daughter of different two-year and four-year public MSIs. She earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education and a Graduate Certificate in Program Evaluation and Assessment at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Proudly from Carson, California, she was a community college transfer student from Long Beach City College to the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, where she earned her B.A. in Biology, B.A. in Anthropology, and M.Ed. in Educational Administration.