Three essays on the influence of state policies on transfer enrollment at 4-year institutions

This dissertation contains three essays that examine the influence of state policies on transfer enrollment at 4-year institutions. The first essay is a systematic review of 16 studies that provide an understanding of the literature on state policies and transfer enrollment at 4-year institutions. In the review I provide an understanding of who transfer students are, the patterns of transfer at 4-year institutions, and a synthesis of the literature including state transfer articulation, state appropriations, and state financial aid policies. The review revealed a significant concentration of research on community college to baccalaureate transfer pathway as well as on articulation policies. There was little attention to the influence of state appropriations and financial aid on transfer enrollments. In the second essay, I examine the relationship between state appropriations on transfer enrollment at 4-year institutions through a framework of resource dependency using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Panel data models with institution and year fixed effects revealed that after accounting for past values of state appropriations, transfer enrollments were positively related to increases in state appropriations. In the third essay, I provide a state-level analysis to determine the relationship between state need- and merit-based financial aid allocation and transfer enrollment at 4-year public and private institutions, and how that differs by race. Using data from IPEDS, Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and College Board, fixed effects models revealed little or no significant association between state financial aid and transfer enrollment.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy (MU)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Missouri--Columbia

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Kumbal, Justin Siekannye

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Curs, Bradley

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

DOI

https://doi.org/10.32469/10355/96101

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/96101