The long-term financial viability of private higher education has been a topic of concern for some time, with experts predicting their decline. This concern has been exacerbated by declining enrollment, mounting deficits, and a wave of closures among small private institutions. Demographic changes, including declining high school graduate…

This dissertation studies the market for higher education and impacts of higher education policy on the market. In the first chapter, I estimate the short-run elasticity of supply of higher education using the rollout of state merit grant programs as plausibly exogenous variation in student demand for in-state higher education. I find that public…

As populist forces stretch apart higher education and government, colleges lobby in measurable ways to secure scarce funding and respond to accountability regulations. The non-profit and corporate lobbying literature provides a basis of comparison to ask if colleges lobby like corporations, which have been successful lobbyists under challenging…

The unique tension caused by the interdependent relationship between access, affordability, and sustainability adds an additional level of complexity for administrators in balancing societal educational needs, economic realities, and institutional success. Trends suggest postsecondary six-year degree completion remains stagnant despite most full…

Supporting bachelor's degree completion for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds has been a focus for a number of selective four-year colleges and universities. Bachelor's degree completion rates for recipients of federal Pell Grant funds have been reported by the National Center for Education Statistics for a decade. Statistical data…

This study examined the relationship between engaging institutional environments and alumni donor participation rates at 310 colleges and universities. The study found that engaging environments have positive relationships to alumni donor participation rates at Carnegie Baccalaureate institutions, but the relationship is not significant at Masters…