State political culture and the affordability of higher education

256 Pages·2017·0.7 MB·English

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Electronic Theses and Dissertations
5-2007
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Sara Elizabeth Yount
University of Louisville
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Yount, Sara Elizabeth, "State political culture and the affordability of higher education : a multivariate
analysis of the impact of state higher education boards on the cost of attending college." (2007).
Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1626.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1626
This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's
Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized
administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of
the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected].
STATE POLITICAL CULTURE AND THE AFFORDABILITY OF HIGHER
EDUCATION: A MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF STATE
HIGHER EDUCATION BOARDS ON THE COST OF ATTENDING COLLEGE

By

Sara E. Yount
B.A., The University of Kentucky, 1994
M.P.A., The University of Louisville, 1997
M.A., The University of Louisville, 2006

A Dissertation
Submitted to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of the University of Louisville
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

College of Education and Human Development
Department of Leadership, Foundations,
and Human Resource Education
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky

May 2007

Copyright 2007 by Sara E. Yount

All rights reserved
STATE POLITICAL CULTURE AND THE AFFORDABILITY OF HIGHER
EDUCATION: A MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF STATE
HIGHER BOARDS ON THE COST OF ATTENDING COLLEGE

By

Sara E. Yount
B.A., The University of Kentucky, 1994
M.P.A., The University of Louisville, 1997
M.A., University of Louisville, 2006

A Dissertation Approved on

___________________

by the following Dissertation Committee:

_________________________________________
Dr. John F. Welsh, Dissertation Director

________________________________________
Dr. Thomas Reio

________________________________________
Dr. Paul Winter

________________________________________
Dr. Fred Rhodes

________________________________________
Carrie Donald, Esq.
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DEDICATION

To my father, Leonard A. Yount, who has an unequaled
work ethic and has encouraged me to achieve my dreams, be
my own person and not accept limits that others may try to
set for me.

and

“Women should have equal pay for equal work and they
should be considered equally eligible to the offices of
principal and superintendent, professor and president. So
you must insist that qualifications, not sex, shall govern
appointments and salaries.”
Susan B. Anthony, July 6, 1903

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you, Dr. Welsh, for your patience and direction;
Dr. Thomas Reio for your enthusiasm for quantitative
analysis; Dr. Winter for your expectation for excellence;
and to everyone else who has helped me during this process.
Thank you, Linda Jones and Ron Missun for your friendship
and assistance. To Patrick O’Leary, thank you for
encouraging me to persevere.

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ABSTRACT

STATE POLITICAL CULTURE AND THE AFFORDABILITY OF HIGHER
EDUCATION: A MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF STATE
HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNING STRUCTURES ON THE COST OF
ATTENDING COLLEGE

Sara E. Yount

May 12, 2007

The purpose of this study was to understand variance
in state system performance of affordability using
variables describing the state political environment and
the structure of state higher education boards.
The researcher utilized the National Center for Public
Policy in Higher Education’s Measuring Up (2006) grade for
the dependent variable. Three control variables were
examined: (a) institutional strength of the governor, (b)
professionalism of the state legislature, and (c) impact of
the special interest groups. The independent variable was
state higher education boards. Three levels existed for
this variable: (a) consolidated governing board, (b)
coordinating board, and (c) planning/service agency.
Through examining the independent variable and the
control variables that impacted affordability across the 50
states, it was evident that the results did not support
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research question one. Governance structure was not a
significant predictor of affordability. The results of
question two showed that professionalism of the state
legislature was the most significant predictor of
affordability across the three years in question, 2002,
2004, and 2006.
Based on the results of the study, the researcher
anticipates that policy makers will now spend less time
focusing on governance structure and more time shedding
light on why professionalism is so important to
affordability of higher education across the 50 states.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................iv
ABSTRACT..................................................v
LIST OF TABLES...........................................ix

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION......................................1

Structure of State Higher Education...............2

Declining Affordability...........................3

Challenges Facing Higher Education................4

Research Problem..................................8

Purpose of the Study..............................9

Research Questions...............................10

Definition of Terms..............................11

Significance of the Study........................13

II. LITERATURE REVIEW................................15

Financial Considerations.........................21

Student Considerations...........................34

Policy Considerations and Governance.............60

Governance Structure.............................80

Leadership.......................................95

Organizational Effectiveness....................103

Resource Allocation.............................114

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