Merritt Foster serves as a Research Analyst in McAllister and Quinn’s Higher Education Practice, where she supports colleges and universities in pursuing strategic federal and foundation funding opportunities. She provides support in analyzing federal grantmaking trends, identifying funding and streamlining projects, and reviewing clients’ needs with a keen awareness for legislative affairs.
Merritt brings a background in government relations and research to best support universities in navigating complex funding landscapes and long-term growth. Prior to her current role, Merritt interned in Operations for the firm, supporting multiple practices and company infrastructure. She has worked as both a campaign and legislative intern for United States Sen. Lindsey Graham, learning legislative communications, political financing, as well as legislative research. Additionally, she interned for the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General, contributing to post-conviction relief legal review and appellate casework.
In her academic work at the University of South Carolina, Merritt is a Magellan Research Fellow, focused on southern judicial and political traditions, as well as historical patterns of federal appointments in the post-Reconstruction era South. She supported this work as an Undergraduate Research Assistant for the Department of Political Science, studying presidential and senatorial election trends, as well as the Seventeenth Amendment in transforming regional political representation.
Merritt graduated with Honor from the University of South Carolina with a dual B.A. in Political Science and Psychology, involved in several student campus organizations and leadership roles, and remains a proud supporter of the Gamecocks.