The goal of this research was to explore the relationship between the undergraduate degree profile (practical vs. liberal arts) and environmental factors (institutional and state level) at regional comprehensive universities (RCUs) from 2006-2020. Neoliberal policies have dominated the higher education environment for the last 40 years and this has increased the pressure on institutions. RCUs represent a subset of the higher education population that have historically been responsive to environmental changes. They also tend to be more tuition dependent. This study examined the changes in the degree production and funding at RCUs and utilized a fixed effects panel analysis to estimate the relationship between changes in the degree production and environmental factors at the institutional and state level. RCUs have experienced an increase in the percentage of practical arts degrees awarded and in their tuition dependence. However, tuition dependence was not shown to have a significant impact on the degree production. Several institutional factors and state factors were shown to be significantly related to increases in practical arts degree production. Institutions with the highest increases in the percentage of practical degrees also had increases in tuition revenue per (full time equivalent) FTE 12-month. At the state-level, unemployment rate, the percentage of college education people and increases in personal income were correlated with increases in practical arts production.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc2356232 |
| Date | 07 1900 |
| Creators | McClendon, Mark Bradley |
| Contributors | Taylor, Barrett, Harbour, CLifford, Lamb, Keith |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | Text |
| Rights | Public, McClendon, Mark Bradley, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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