Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
School of Education College of Human Sciences & Education
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
There is an undeniable fact that enrollment management efforts on academic campuses have become an integral part of campus finance and the backbone of accreditation. Many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are on the verge of collapsing and even losing their accreditations due to low enrollment, a decline that has been observed in recent decades.
Therefore, this study investigated why students are not enrolling in HBCUs. The study further explored the perceived factors that are likely to contribute to low student enrollment at HBCUs and the role financial matters play in student enrollment. To address this gap in the existing literature, this study used a mixed-method design, multinomial logistics regression, and bivariate association analysis to investigate two research questions: (a) What are the factors that contribute to student enrollment at one HBCU in the southern part of the United States? (b) To what extent do financial matters make a difference in determining students’ enrollment at this HBCUs in the southern part of the United States? A total sample size of 1200 prospective students was used. This study found that parental educational level, financial aid, residence, ability to pay admission/tuition cost, and institutional characteristics were significant factors that could contribute to low student enrollment in HBCUs (specifically, at the site institution); gender and ethnicity were not significant factors. Based on the adduced data (or the summary of the profiling information) and the analysis from the bivariate table, it was observed that the longer a prospective student’s financial aid status pended for approval or had financial aid denial, the more likely that student would refuse admission and not enroll in the site school. As part of policy implications, this study suggested that faculty and administrators, as well as research departments, must write and win more grants to make funds available to the institution to attract more students. Above all, HBCUs should make more financial aid assistance available and also speed up aid processing and approval rates.
Date
8-26-2021
Recommended Citation
Jackson, Anthony Trumaine, "Investigating the Determinants of Student Low Enrollment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): The Case of One HBCU in the South" (2021). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 5659.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/5659
Committee Chair
Kennedy, Eugene
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.5659