A well-designed compliance program is necessary for higher education institutions (HEIs) of all sizes to mitigate the risks of severe penalties and reputational damage resulting from regulatory noncompliance. The U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines provide a broad framework comprised of the Seven Elements contributing to an effective compliance program; however, limited empirical research examines successful compliance program designs within HEIs. This quantitative study used the Seven Elements framework to explore compliance program design in four-year public HEIs in the U.S. Southern Region and better understand the resources or design elements most effectively establishing program maturity. The study revealed that the seven compliance program design elements are correlated, establishing a reliable maturity index to benchmark compliance program development in HEIs. The maturity index shows that most HEIs' compliance programs benchmark at the "established" maturity level. This maturity rating indicates that the program designs are developed and implemented yet have room for advancement into full maturity and leading practices. While HEIs have progressed in establishing compliance programs over the last 20 years, few institutions have fully mature programs incorporating leading industry practices. The maturity index derived from the compliance program maturity model is an effective tool for higher education compliance professionals to measure program maturity and benchmark against other institutions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]