This study examined the adoption of information technology (IT) emerging technology by higher education institutions with a focus on non-research and research based institutions categorized by Carnegie Mellon classifications that are members of EDUCAUSE, a higher education non-profit organization, whose mission is the use of IT in higher education. Publicly available archival information was used to survey a selected population from EDUCAUSE's member institutions. The study results indicate that research and non-research based higher education institutions mostly considered in their decision making process for adopting IT emerging technologies the cost of IT adoption, return on investment, total cost of ownership, competition, strategic and academic goals, comparable or competitor's use of IT emerging technologies, use of existing physical infrastructure, integration with existing legacy equipment, perceived worker skill sets, productivity, attracting quality students, faculty and staff, and quality of computing services. Staff training levels and academic standing with comparable schools and competitors were least considered in the decision making process for adopting IT emerging technologies. This research provides a better understanding of what factors are viewed by non-research based higher education institutions as reasons to adopt IT emerging technologies.