Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Shawn Gillen

Abstract

AbstractTuition costs for U.S. public universities have steadily risen in response to decreased state funding in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession. Researchers have studied the relationship between public budgeting and higher education but have not established the direct effects of budgeting decisions on student graduation outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand why state funding has not kept up with tuition prices and how that affects student graduation rates. The effect of (a) tuition costs and (b) Michigan state funding for public universities on student outcomes was examined. Punctuated equilibrium theory and policy feedback theory, which accounted for periods of stability and instability in financing decisions and radical changes over time, was the theoretical framework. The study featured a retrospective design with secondary data collection. Graduation rates data were collected from IPEDS and state funding and tuition cost data were collected from the Michigan House Fiscal Agency from 2004 to 2021. Two simple linear regressions and one multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Study results indicated that graduation rates increased for every $1 million the state of Michigan spent on public universities and for every $100 a Michigan public university student spent on tuition. The evidence from the study may be useful to state policy makers in allocating the correct amount of public funding for public universities. Appropriate budgeting decisions may bolster student graduation outcomes and subsequent earnings as well as spur statewide economic growth resulting in positive social change.

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