He received his Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University. His research focuses on the social and psychological development of immigrant youth. He also studies the academic achievement and higher education access of Latino students. His most recent work examines the achievement motivation and civic engagement of undocumented students. Richard D. Cortes is an Academic & Transfer Counselor at Glendale Community College (CA). He received his Ph.D. in Education from Claremont Graduate University, and both his Master's degree in Counseling and Bachelor's degree in Psychology from CSU, Northridge. His primary research interests covers minority student achievement, immigrant student issues, and social justice counseling.