Prior to her current role, Tucker served as Director of Planning and Research for the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia. Her work focuses on college access, particularly for first-generation rural students, and redesigning developmental education. She completed her doctorate at the School of Education at the University of Michigan in 2010. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she was a behavioral specialist and general education teacher in an adolescent girls group home. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Harvard University and a M.A. in Quantitative Research Methodology from the University of Michigan.