Mark Salisbury
Mark Salisbury is a nationally-renowned author, speaker, educator, and champion of college price transparency as a primary way to simplify and improve the college admissions process. His work has been highlighted by the New York Times, Forbes, NBC, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and NPR. In addition, he is a regular guest on a myriad of podcasts addressing college admissions and the higher education industry. Mark earned his PhD from the University of Iowa and holds additional degrees from the University of Minnesota and the University of Kansas. Before launching the TuitionFit project (tuitionfit.org) to empower the public by crowdsource college price transparency themselves, he was an Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Director of Institutional Research at Augustana College in Illinois, and a Board member for the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium.
Mark’s experience in higher education spans a quarter century at both large and small colleges and universities. He began his career in college athletics, coaching both men’s and women’s soccer at NCAA div. 1 and 2 universities. After a decade in college athletics, during a period of intense growth and change in women’s sports, Mark stepped away from coaching to focus on admissions and financial aid. Shortly thereafter, he accepted a research assistantship on a national, six-year study of college students based at the University of Iowa. This launched a new phase of Mark’s career as a higher education scholar, consultant, writer, and speaker.
Mark continues to write and present to audiences across the higher education landscape. His work with TuitionFit is featured in two new best-selling books that take you behind the scenes of what’s going on in the financial aid system- Jeff Sellingo’s “Who Gets In and Why” and Ron Lieber’s “The Price You Pay for College.” Both of these ground-breaking best sellers are listed among our top eight book selections and are a must read for parents with college bound children. He is also a strategic partner with My College Planning Team and consults with MCPT regularly to assist families increase their financial aid through the appeals process.
In addition to his work in higher education, Mark has been a professional musician, a stand-up comedian, and an improv theater performer, even conducting workshops across the country for educators on how to apply the principles of improvisation to improve teaching and learning.
Mark lives in Davenport, Iowa, with his wife, two sons, and five cats (MEOW!).