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Predicting Master’s Program and Degree Completion Growth: The Impact of Tuition Revenue Dependence

Name: Predicting Master’s Program and Degree Completion Growth: The Impact of Tuition Revenue Dependence
Published: 2024-11-12
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Joseph H. Paris, Delaware Valley University; Jay R. Stefanelli, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Tuition Revenue Dependence Dataset 240830 - RQ1.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	170 KB	11/12/2024 11:34:AM
Tuition Revenue Dependence Dataset 240830 - RQ2.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	176.3 KB	08/30/2024 05:52:PM

Project Citation:

Paris, Joseph H., and Stefanelli, Jay R. Predicting Master’s Program and Degree Completion Growth: The Impact of Tuition Revenue Dependence. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-11-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E210881V1

Project Description

Summary: Since the 1970s, master’s degrees represent the fastest growing degree in the United States (U.S.). Accordingly, there is a need for greater understanding of the factors that have contributed to this sustained, upward trend. Guided by resource dependence theory, we conducted regression analyses to examine whether more than 1,000 non-profit U.S. institutions’ dependence on tuition revenue (i.e., tuition revenue as a percentage of core revenues) is a statistically significant predictor of the percentage change in the number of master’s degree programs offered and master’s degree completions between 2005 and 2022. We found that tuition revenue dependence was a statistically significant predictor of the percentage change in master’s degree programs offered. This finding suggests that greater dependence on tuition revenue is associated with an increased number of master’s degree programs offered. Specifically, for a one standard deviation increase in tuition revenue as a percentage of core revenues, the percentage change in the number of master’s degree programs offered is expected to increase by 0.203 standard deviations. Additionally, we found that tuition revenue as a percentage of core revenues was not a statistically significant predictor of the percentage change in the number of master’s degree completions. We conclude by discussing the implications for institutional decision-making, aligning the supply and demand for master’s degrees, and directions for future research.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: IPEDS

Geographic Coverage: United States

Time Period(s): 2005 – 2022 (IPEDS Reporting Years 2005 and 2022)

Collection Date(s): 7/19/2024 – 7/19/2024 (July 19, 2024)

Universe: Public and private non-profit institutions with a 2005 Basic Carnegie Classification of Baccalaureate Colleges (Arts & Sciences, Diverse Fields), Master’s Colleges and Universities (larger, medium, and smaller programs), Doctoral/Research Universities, and Research Universities (high research activity, very high research activity).

Data Type(s): aggregate data

Methodology

Data Source: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education

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Published Versions

V2 [2025-05-29]

V1 [2024-11-12]

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