Christina Tangalakis, Ed.D.

Christina Tangalakis, Ed.D. joined College Aid Services in 2024 brining over 23 years of experience in higher education in various roles in student financial aid, focused on equity and access, student success, retention, enrollment management, scholarships, strategic planning, and transformational aid administration.  

Christina recently served as the Associate Dean of Financial Aid at Glendale College in Glendale, California.  She is active in her local, state, regional and national associations and is proud to have served on the NASFAA board for 2020-2021 as a Commission Director, overseeing the work of the State Advocacy and Implicit Bias task forces. Her other association roles have included NASFAA CFAA Commission Past-Chair, WASFAA Ethnic Diversity Chair for 2020-2022, and is the current CASFAA Past-President for 2023-2024. 

Christina has worked in four different sectors of higher education and has a broad understanding of the challenges facing financial aid administrators. As a parent of three daughters, all college graduates, she has navigated the financial aid process from the personal and the professional perspective.

She has a keen interest in conversations on creating meaningful work for financial aid staff, improving how students experience the financial aid process, and maintaining compliance in a rapidly changing environment. Her research on reforming SAP from an equity lens was recently presented at the 2024 AERA Conference in Philadelphia. 

In 2014, Christina published her doctoral thesis on the college-going identities of Latinx students without documentation. Christina also serves on the board of the Foundation for the AIDS Monument and lives in north Los Angeles with her family and pets. 

Christina is a NASFAA Certified Financial Aid Administrator (FAAC®). She has also obtained NASFAA credentials in Administrative Capability, Application Process, Consumer Information, Cost of Attendance and Student Eligibility.