This study assesses the technical efficiency of higher education institutions in terms of labor market outcomes for recent graduates, employing a comparative analysis of three distinct methodological approaches. Using a sample of recent graduates of Colombian universities who earned their degrees between 2007 and 2011, we estimated the…

Between 1997 and 2019, 16 out of 41 performance-based funding (PBF) states discontinued their PBF policies for public colleges and universities. Adapting policy diffusion theory to PBF discontinuation, we investigate whether policy discontinuation in one state is related to discontinuations in other states, and differentiate between the two policy…

The aim of this study is to profile academic institutions (n = 127) based on publications, citations in the top 10% of journals, patent citations in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals, clinical trials with uploaded results, contributions to clinical practice guidelines, awarded patents, start-ups, and licenses generating income in…

Comprehensive institutions (CIs) have long been characterized as middling universities with a confused identity and purpose. Yet, their historical origins demonstrate that they have served as an important point of access into higher education for marginalized student groups. Still, there remains little consensus over which institutions are CIs and…

This study considers whether performance funding policies systematically tend to harm some types of institutions of higher education while helping others. Building on theories of deck stacking and institutional stratification, a formal theoretical model of the effects of performance funding policies on individual institutions is developed and…

University administrators may invest significant time and resources with the goal of improving their "U.S. News & World Report" ranking, but the real impact of these investments is not well known since, as other universities make similar changes, rankings become a moving target. This research removes the mystique of the "U.S.…

Research often focuses on how students fail to meet college expectations, but it rarely asks how colleges fail to meet students' expectations. This study examines students' expectations of college and their institutional confidence--their level of certainty that college will meet their expectations. Drawing on 65 pilot interviews and a survey of…

Although many studies have addressed the issue of response quality in survey studies, few have looked specifically at low-quality survey responses in surveys of college students. As students receive more and more survey requests, it is inevitable that some of them will provide low-quality responses to important campus surveys and institutional…

Higher education administrators believe that revenues are linked to college rankings and act accordingly, particularly those at research universities. Although rankings are clearly influential for many schools and colleges, this fundamental assumption has yet to be tested empirically. Drawing on data from multiple resource providers in higher…

In most multi-campus studies of college impact that have been conducted over the past four decades, investigators have relied on ordinary least squares (OLS) regression as the analytic method of choice. Recently, however, some investigators have advocated the use of Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), a method specifically designed for analyses…

Using a conceptual model, this study examines the variables associated with the "U.S. News and World Report" peer assessment ratings of graduate and professional schools in business, education, engineering, law, and medicine. What are the correlates of prestige among the nation's leading graduate and professional schools, and are they consistent…

Amid growing criticism of public universities, there is little discussion of what appropriate institutional evaluation would entail. Six-year graduation rates are commonly used, and public bachelors granting institutions have lower rates than private institutions, but with the growth in non-traditional college attendance, these can be misleading.…

College rankings and guidebooks have become big business. The prominent role played by rankings and guidebooks is problematic because the criteria used to evaluate institutions have little to do with the quality of education students receive. Designed as an alternative to college rankings, NSSE assesses student engagement in activities that…

An institution can test seniors with the ACT College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) exam, then subtract from the senior score an estimated freshman score. Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, indicate that this method is not reliable to make judgments about the quality of general education programs. (Author/MLW)

Explains the institutional research process used by the Oregon University System to identify peer comparators for the state's seven diverse public universities. The process combined detailed statistical information with a sensitivity to the political dynamics and judgments of campus presidents and staff. Identifies 10 conditions that contribute to…