Richard is Professor Emeritus and former Paul Burdin Endowed Professor of Education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he taught graduate-level courses in education law and policy. His research interests include higher education law and finance. His blog, condemnedtodebt.org, is devoted to research and commentary on the federal student loan program.

From 2011 until 2021, Richard edited Catholic Southwest, a journal on the history of Catholicism in the Southwest. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Education Law Reporter and Teachers College Record.