There is a dearth of empirical work that examines the relationships between federal financial aid policy and institutional financial aid priorities and expenditures. This study uses Resource Dependency Theory to explore whether changes the amount of financial aid awarded by colleges and universities during the last fifty years are best explained…

Little attention has been given to identifying the professional bodies of knowledge or expertise that should be possessed by entering, early career, or senior SEM staff members. Using a multi-method research approach that included both a national survey and a modified Delphi Technique involving senior enrollment and admissions professionals, we…

The question of how the government can best support access to postsecondary education has become a critical issue for education policymakers around the globe, as the practice of cost sharing for funding postsecondary education has been more widely adopted. In this context, this study explores the approaches to implementing current need-based…

In this article, the author begins to examine the connections between institutional enrollment management efforts and the various external for-profit, and not-for-profit, businesses that have become part of the enrollment management industry. This essay is an effort to map the relationships between institutions, the enrollment industry, and more…

The use of merit criteria in awarding institutional aid has grown considerably and, some argue, is supplanting need as the central factor in awarding aid. Concurrently, the accountability movement in higher education has placed greater emphasis on retention and graduation as indicators of institutional success and quality. In this context, this…

There are many changes occurring in higher education, and often it is difficult to see trends nationally. In this presentation, experts working with national data present trends in higher education from a forward-looking perspective. Senior researchers from the College Board provide trends using College Board SAT and AP data, as well as new…

The array of admissions models and the underlying, and sometimes conflicting goals people have for college admissions, create the dynamics and the tensions that define the contemporary context for enrollment management. The senior enrollment officer must ask, for example, how does an institution try to assure transparency, equality of access,…

Using literature and illustrations drawn from a pilot study, this article explores the theoretical and methodological challenges entailed in the study of student retention. We center the discussion around two important efforts to expand the theoretical base and scope for research in this area: Berger's (2000) concept of colleges and universities…

In our previous essay, we considered the role of institutional financial aid and the practice of enrollment management. In that essay we explored the use of financial aid as a tool to enhance equity increase prestige, as a revenue enhancement tool and as a means to shape institutional image in the various markets that comprise our diverse system…

Enrollment management has become an important leadership function on many college and university campuses. It is also attracting critical attention here and abroad among observers of our system of postsecondary education. With this essay, "College and University" begins a series that will examine policies and practices that are central to…

Among all the students who transfer from one institution to another during their academic careers, a distinct group of "reverse transfer" students has emerged over time. Reverse transfer occurs when students begin their college careers at 4-year institutions but eventually transfer into 2-year institutions. Using student unit record data…

The importance and attention given to information systems are relatively new phenomena in the history of higher education. This chapter documents the ascendancy of information systems in the scheme of institutional priorities and considers the strengths and weaknesses associated with vended and homegrown systems.

This report, "National Postsecondary Enrollment Trends: Before, During, and After the Great Recession," brings to light emerging national and regional patterns among traditional-age, first-time students enrolling in colleges and universities during the fall term each year from 2006 through 2010--before, during, and after the recession.…

The world of policymaking on the campuses of colleges and universities is messy, ambiguous, and contested. In this complex environment, which Kingdon (2003) has aptly called a "policy soup," the role of institutional research is often not only to provide answers to existing policy questions but to produce information to help transform…

A guide to the development and operation of a college enrollment management system is presented for college administrators. After describing current issues that affect traditional student enrollments, the concept of enrollment management is defined, and its basic elements are introduced, along with broader organizational perspectives such as…