Not All Regional Public Universities Strive for Prestige: Examining and Strengthening Mission‐Centeredness Within a Vital Sector

Abstract

A dominant narrative exists that all regional public universities (RPUs) are striving for prestige and, if given the chance, would readily abandon their missions of facilitating educational access for marginalized students and increase admissions selectivity to privilege elite students. As a result of this dominant narrative, RPUs are largely depicted as being unsure of and uncommitted to their missions. This chapter tests this dominant narrative by examining research and media reporting about the sector. The chapter argues that some indicators of prestige-seeking have been inappropriately applied to RPUs and that assumptions have been made about the entire sector based on the behaviors of a few institutions. Research demonstrating far more mission-centeredness in the sector than the dominant narrative suggests is also shared. The chapter concludes with recommendations for policymakers, the media, and RPU administrators to help them counter the dominant narrative while strengthening the sector' s mission-centeredness.

Suppressing racial diversity for prestige? The conflicting imperatives of public master’s institutions.

“…An increase in the percentage of enrolled federal Pell Grant recipients (a proxy for low-income students) was associated with small upticks in enrollment share of URM students and in the diversity index score. This relationship is consistent with prior research highlighting mission-driven PMIs that serve local, historically marginalized students (Fryar, 2015; McClure, 2018; Oprhan, 2018, 2020; Warshaw et al, 2020, 2021). We also found that an increase in international student enrollment was associated with a decrease in URM enrollment share and an increase in the diversity index score.…”

“…We expect that an increase in graduate enrollment and in research spending will, due to connections to tuition price, each be associated with a decrease in racial diversity at PMIs. But PMIs’ expansion of graduate education and research could be mission-centered when their initiatives align with community-based needs (Fryar, 2015; Henderson, 2007; Orphan, 2020; Zerquera, 2019). Such efforts may enhance or constrain racial diversity based on whether they serve access and equity or striving.…”

“…There are nearly 200 4-year U.S. public master's institutions (PMIs) that comprise about half of America's regional comprehensive colleges and universities. PMIs fall within the "master's colleges and universities" Carnegie classification, which separates them from regional counterparts spanning multiple categories (Orphan, 2020). In the broader postsecondary system, PMIs collectively enroll about 20% of all undergraduates and 2.5 million students each year (Fryar, 2015; National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2019b).…”

“…Yet newer studies have found that, on average, PMIs continue to expand college access for racially diverse groups of students, as well as for low-income students, first-generation college students, parttime and adult learners, and military veterans (McClure, 2018;Orphan, 2018Orphan, , 2020Warshaw et al, 2020Warshaw et al, , 2021. Institutions in the sector also feature supportive teaching practices (Campbell et al, 2019;Henderson, 2007), innovative approaches to student success (Orphan, 2020), unique cost efficiencies (Titus et al, 2017), deep regional stewardship (Orphan, 2018), and robust socioeconomic gains for graduates (Chetty et al, 2017;de Alva, 2019). Such research indicates a mission-centered view of PMIs in which "U.S. News & World Report does not come into it," as Dr. Mildred García, president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, has noted recently.…”

To be or not to be a technical university: organisational categories as reference points in higher education

“…That is not to say, however, that all contemporary HEIs have similar profiles, niches, and aspirations (Teichler 1988;Paradeise and Thoenig 2013). Orphan (2020) argues that many US regional colleges are less prone to prestige-seeking behaviour than what is often assumed in the higher education debate, cherishing the mission of regional access to postsecondary education. In the oldest and most prestigious institutions traditionally associated with a category of specialisation such as 'technical university', the social order that grants them status and incumbency may be treasured (Podolny 2010;Brankovic 2018).…”