Kevin Carey (born October 6, 1970) is an American higher education writer and policy analyst. He serves as Director of the Education Policy Program at New America, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization based in Washington, D.C. He writes regularly on education for The Upshot at the New York Times, and is guest editor of the annual Washington Monthly College Guide. He has taught education policy at Johns Hopkins University, and was a monthly columnist for six years at The Chronicle of Higher Education. He has been described by New York Times Washington columnist David Leonhardt as “one of the sharpest higher education experts out there” and by Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews as “the best higher education writer in the country.”