Predictors of financial responsibility composite scores at cathol

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Graduate School Professional Papers 2020 PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES AT CATHOLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Sarah Nicole Agostinelli Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Agostinelli, Sarah Nicole, "PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES AT CATHOLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES" (2020). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers.edu/etd/11529 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana.

For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso. PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES AT CATHOLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES By SARA NICOLE AGOSTINELLI Masters of Arts in Education, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 2009 Bachelor of Arts in Electronic Media, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN, 2006 Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership The University of Montana Missoula, MT May 2020 Approved by: Dr.

Scott Whittenburg, Dean of the Graduate School, University of Montana Dr. O’Reilly, Chair Department of Educational Leadership University of Montana Dr. Roberta Evans Department of Educational Leadership University of Montana Dr. Gallagher Missoula College University of Montana Dr.

John Matt Department of Educational Leadership University of Montana Dr. McCaw Department of Educational Leadership University of Montana PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES COPYRIGHT NOTICE TEMPLATE © COPYRIGHT by Sara Nicole Agostinelli 2020 All Rights Reserved ii PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES ABSTRACT Agostinelli, Sara, Ed., Spring, 2020 Educational Leadership Predictors of Financial Responsibility Composite Scores at Catholic Colleges and Universities Chairperson: Dr. O’Reilly The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand the relationships of the demographic variables of religious order, program length, and geographic region interact with the score a Catholic institution receives on the U. Education Department test for financial responsibility using descriptive statistics.

The research study showed a statistically significant negative correlation between the institution’s composite score on the financial responsibility test and student loan default rates using the Pearson correlation coefficient, with a small effect size. The research study also showed a statistically significant positive correlation between the institution’s composite score on the financial responsibility test and enrollment using the Pearson correlation coefficient, with a small effect size. Data were collected from Federal Student Aid Department within the U. Education Department, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Educational Statistics, and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.

Implications of this study allow for higher education leaders to further understand the economic factor of an institution’s financial responsibility composite score as a potential influencer for students and their families in their college selection process as understood by Student Choice Theory in an increasingly competitive admissions market. Keywords: Catholic higher education, financial responsibility composite score, Student Choice Theory, student loan default rates, enrollment iii PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES Table of Contents Abstract. viii List of Tables. ix List of Figures.

xiii Chapter One: Introduction to the Study. 1 Background of the Study. 3 Purpose of the Study. 4 Definitions of Key Terms.

5 Research Descriptive Statistics, Questions, and Hypothesis. 8 Delimitations of the Study. 9 Limitations of the Study. 10 Significance of the Study.

11 Chapter Two: Literature Review. 13 Student Choice Theory. 14 History of Financial Aid and Title IV Funding. 16 iv PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES Growing Reliance on Student Loans and Rising Student Loan Default Rates.

19 Financial Responsibility Composite Scores. 23 Composite scores and relationship to other university factors. 24 History of Catholic Higher Education in the United States. 25 Impact of religious order within Catholic higher education.

28 Development of program length within Catholic higher education. 31 Growth of Catholic higher education across the geographic locations. 34 Chapter Three: Methodology and Anticipated Statistical Analysis. 36 Research Descriptive Statistics, Questions, and Hypothesis.

38 Variables in the Study. 42 Institution Review Board. 44 v PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES Chapter Four: Results. 51 Financial responsibility composite score and student loan default rate.

51 Financial responsibility composite score and enrollment. 61 Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendations. 63 Discussion of the Results. 67 Relationship between financial responsibility composite scores and student loan default rates.

68 Relationship between financial responsibility composite scores and enrollment. 69 Challenges of the Study. 69 Implications of the Study. 70 Recommendations for Future Research.

73 vi PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES References. 75 vii PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES Appendices Appendix A. 89 viii PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES List of Tables Table 1: Variables and Sources. 40 Table 2: Religious Orders.

46 Table 3: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Student Loan Default Rate. 52 Table 4: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Student Loan Default Rate by Religious Order. 54 Table 5: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Student Loan Default Rate by Program Length. 55 Table 6: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Student Loan Default Rate by Geographic Region.

56 Table 7: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Enrollment. 57 Table 8: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Enrollment by Religious Order. 59 Table 9: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Enrollment by Program Length. 60 Table 10: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Enrollment by Geographic Region.

61 Table 11: Nominal Data for Religious Orders. 81 Table 12: Nominal Data for Program Length. 84 Table 13: Nominal Data for Geographic Region. 85 ix PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES Table 14: Number of Institutions per Religious Order.

86 Table 15: The 213 Catholic Colleges and Universities Utilized in this Research. 89 x PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES List of Figures Figure 1: Program Lengths. 48 Figure 2: Geographic Location. 49 Figure 3: Financial Responsibility Composite Scores.

50 Figure 4: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Student Loan Default Rate. 53 Figure 5: Pearson correlation of Financial Responsibility Composite Score and Enrollment. 58 xi PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to Joel. Thank you for pushing me to begin my doctoral journey six years ago, and for encouraging and supporting me throughout the entire process.

I would not have begun, let alone finished, without you cheering me on. I would also like to dedicate this dissertation to my dogs-- Trigger, Auri, Salvador, and Piper, for all the time I cut playtime and walks short to do homework, read, and write. Your early morning snuggles on the couch as I furiously typed kept me motivated along the way. I promise a statistically significant increase in outdoor adventures.

xii PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES Acknowledgement I would like to thank the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Catherine University for my first Catholic higher education experience. Even without knowing Student Choice Theory, I made the intelligent decision to attend St.

Thanks to the incredible staff and faculty, I found my passion in educational leadership. My career in higher education has taken me to a Jesuit university in California and a Holy Cross university in Indiana. I appreciate my experience within Catholic higher education and acknowledge my years at Catholic universities drove my interest in this dissertation topic. I am grateful for my chair, Dr.

Not just for her dedication and time on my dissertation, but her advice and mentorship throughout my entire doctoral process. Having a background in student affairs and Catholic higher education, Dr. O’Reilly understood both my educational goals and daily professional challenges intimately well. Her humor and willingness to share her own personal experiences motivated me throughout the process.

She cared about me as a person, professional, and student. Thank you for being there for me from the start. I would like to thank the members of my committee-- Dr. Bill McCaw, Dr.

John Matt, Dr. Roberta Evans, and Dr. Thomas Gallagher for your support, guidance, and commitment to my education. I appreciate all the time you dedicated to this research study.

Thank you for your thoughtful questions you asked along the way to improve my research and knowledge in the field of educational leadership. I would also like to acknowledge Sandy Schoonover Curtis and Dr. Christine Caron Gebhardt, who served as my supervisors in my professional positions during this process. I am grateful for their support and encouragement during my doctoral journey.

Sandy encouraged me from the beginning, provided me with guidance, and gave me my first professional home. xiii PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES Christine supported my educational goals from the moment I met her, and shared wisdom from her own doctoral process. I look up to you both. I am thankful for your mentorship and friendship.

I would like to thank the many people who encouraged me throughout this process. To my colleagues who supported me and allowed me to take theory and put it into action; to my students who shared their own educational journeys with me; and to all those people who cheered me on-- thank you. Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to thank my family. They instilled the importance of education in me and always encouraged my dreams.

To Joel, for loving me, supporting me, and listening to me for all enduring time. xiv PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES 1 Chapter One: Introduction to the Study American Catholic higher education dates back to 1789 with the founding of Georgetown College (now Georgetown University) in Maryland (Power, 1972; Rizzi, 2018). Since then, Catholic higher education has seen significant changes from its foundation to educate the poor and local communities to the transition to become coeducational, either by changes in admissions policies or mergers between single-sex institutions (Morey & Piderit, 2006; Power, 1972). With the passage of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, Catholic higher education refocused institutional purpose of mission-driven work, and sought to distinguish themselves from among the growing number of public institutions (Morey & Piderit, 2006).

In 1967, the Land O’Lakes Statement once again created a major transition by creating a focus on academic freedom and institutional autonomy between the academic programs and their respective founding religious orders (Rizzi, 2018). These changes affected both the student experience and also the funding and finances of institutions. Catholic institutions do not receive subsidies from their state governments as their public institution counterparts do (Drinan, 1968). Instead, Catholic education is reliant upon tuition and donations to support itself financially (Drinan, 1968; Morey & Piderit, 2006).

Knowing that tuition revenue is tied to enrollment, it is critical for a Catholic institution to meet its enrollment needs to ensure their income covers their expenses (Morey & Piderit, 2006). The National Student Clearinghouse reported that in Fall 2019, that semester was the eighth consecutive year that fall enrollments had declined across all higher education institutions, falling below 18 million students for the first time in the decade (2019). Given the competitiveness for students, it is critical higher education leaders are able to understand the financial motivators that influence college selection. Student Choice Theory tells us that PREDICTORS OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY COMPOSITE SCORES 2 economic factors impact the decision of a high school student determining to pursue college after graduation, rather than entering the workforce (Hossler, Schmit, & Vesper, 1999; Manski & Wise, 1983; St.

Further, it predicts which institution a student decides to attend for college (Hossler, Schmit, & Vesper, 1999; Manski & Wise, 1983).