When Two Become One: A Case Study of the Relationship between College Consolidation and Enrollment, Retention and Graduation

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dc.contributor.author Hicks, Wendi
dc.coverage.spatial United States en_US
dc.coverage.temporal c.2015-2021 en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2021-11-01T15:41:59Z
dc.date.available 2021-11-01T15:41:59Z
dc.date.issued 2021-09
dc.identifier.other 2F5574B5-DBAD-2EAD-4CA1-3E296121F296 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10428/5097
dc.description.abstract Higher education institutions across the United States have increasingly faced an uncertain future as student populations shift, financial pressures mount, and skepticism rises regarding the value of higher education (Seltzer, 2018). As a result, university leaders find themselves endeavoring upon a blind venture of adapting the various corporate consolidation methods to the unique complexities of higher education (Hawks, 2015). While complicated, consolidations serve as a method of adjusting to internal needs and external influences on the organization, which may cause a significant increase in the number of institutions turning to these practices. Despite the complexities and increased instances of such amalgamations by these institutions, there is a significant lack of up-to-date research, analysis, and data concerning the direct effect of consolidation on some institutional processes. During this study, the researcher collected data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System government database for 45 consolidated (90 pre-consolidated) institutions across the United States. The goal of the study was to evaluate if a relationship exists between consolidation and the number of full-time students enrolled in the fall, the percentage of full-time students retained, the number of full-time students who graduated within six years, and the full-time undergraduate cost of tuition through the Open Systems Theory lens. By assessing pre and post-consolidation data, the researcher comprehensively identified the differences and the similarities between the specific inputs, outputs, outcomes, and environmental pressures of mergers. The study concluded that consolidation might not be a practical solution to alleviate issues or achieve enrollment, retention, graduation, and tuition goals. Keywords: consolidation, merger, college, enrollment, graduation, retention en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents CHAPTER I 3 -- INTRODUCTION 3 -- Definition of Terms 6 -- Problem Statement 8 -- Purpose Statement and Research Questions 11 -- Framework 13 -- Significance of the Study 18 -- Scope of the Study 20 -- Summary 21 -- CHAPTER II 24 -- LITERATURE REVIEW 24 -- Historical Context for Consolidation 25 -- Business Sector Consolidation 25 -- Higher Education Consolidation 28 -- Types of Mergers 30 -- Merger 30 -- Business Sector Mergers 31 -- Congeneric Merger 31 -- Conglomerate Merger 31 -- Horizontal Mergers 31 -- Vertical Merger 32 -- Market Extension Merger 32 -- Higher Education Mergers 32 -- Single-Sector Mergers 32 -- Cross-Sector Mergers 33 -- Horizontal Mergers 33 -- Vertical Mergers 34 -- Voluntary vs. Involuntary Mergers 34 -- Consolidation vs. Acquisition 35 -- Business Sector 35 -- Higher Education 37 -- Trends in Consolidation 38 -- Merger Motivations and Benefits 38 -- Merger Issues 48 -- Impact on Human Resources & Turnover 50 -- Impact on Organizational Success 57 -- Impact on Higher Education Mergers 60 -- Weaknesses in Merger Research 64 -- Trends in Higher Education 67 -- Enrollment Rate Trends 67 -- Shifting Student Profiles 69 -- Affordability 70 -- Geopolitical Shifts and Program Availability 72 -- Open Systems Theory Analysis of Higher Education Consolidation 74 -- CHAPTER III 77 -- METHODOLOGY 77 -- Research Design 77 -- Participants 78 -- Data Analysis 79 -- Data Collection 81 -- Limitations 83 -- Delimitations 84 -- Summary 85 -- CHAPTER IV 86 -- RESULTS 86 -- Institutional Data Availability 86 -- Merger Motivations 88 -- Data Analysis 88 -- Enrollment 89 -- Research Question 1 89 -- Methodology 89 -- Descriptive Statistics 91 -- Results of RQ1 Analysis 92 -- Retention 93 -- Research Question 2 94 -- Methodology 94 -- Descriptive Statistics 95 -- Results of RQ2 Analysis 96 -- Graduation 98 -- Research Question 3 98 -- Methodology 99 -- Descriptive Statistics 100 -- Results of RQ3 Analysis 101 -- Tuition 103 -- Research Question 4 103 -- Methodology 104 -- Descriptive Statistics 105 -- Results of RQ4 Analysis 106 -- Merger Outcomes 108 -- Unification Types and Merger Types 108 -- Summary 110 -- CHAPTER V 113 -- CONCLUSION 113 -- Purpose 113 -- Discussion of the Results 114 -- Enrollment 114 -- Retention 115 -- Graduation. 116 -- Tuition 118 -- Outcomes and Relation to Open Systems Theory and Literature 120 -- Consistencies 120 -- Inconsistencies 121 -- Open Systems Theory 125 -- Implications 127 -- Limitations of the Study 130 -- Recommendations for Future Research 131 -- REFERENCES 133 -- APPENDIX I 152 -- APPENDIX II 157 en_US
dc.format.extent 1 electronic document, 168 pages. 1703893 bytes. en_US
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf en_US
dc.language.iso en_US en_US
dc.rights This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed. en_US
dc.subject College dropouts--Prevention en_US
dc.subject College graduates en_US
dc.subject Consolidation and merger of corporations en_US
dc.subject Dissertations, Academic--United States en_US
dc.subject School enrollment en_US
dc.subject Universities and colleges--Mergers en_US
dc.subject Universities and colleges en_US
dc.title When Two Become One: A Case Study of the Relationship between College Consolidation and Enrollment, Retention and Graduation en_US
dc.type Dissertation en_US
dc.contributor.department Department of Political Science of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences en_US
dc.description.advisor Peterson, Bonnie
dc.description.committee Peterson, James
dc.description.committee Black, Michael
dc.description.committee Bogle, Sean
dc.description.degree D.P.A. en_US
dc.description.major Public Administration en_US


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