Impacting student access through federal policy changes: how college presidents interpret the college scorecard.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20251791

There has been significant growth in the number of regulations placed on colleges and universities in recent years. This type of growth contributes to the complex environment that exists for colleges and universities. The study focuses on the federal governments consumer information mandate and the release of The College Scorecard. The release of consumer information in the form of rankings has led colleges and universities to make changes to policies and procedures, particularly in new student admissions, in an effort to improve institutional data and increase rankings. These decisions have created unintended consequences that include mission drift, and restricting student access for low-income students. Using institutional theory and the theory of isomorphism as the lens to study this phenomenon, the central question that guided this research was: How do college and university presidents describe the impact of The College Scorecard? The findings suggest that normative pressure, commitment to mission, and how students use and rely on this information are important factors in determining the impact of The College Scorecard.