Examining Not-for-Profit Higher Education Faculty Attitudes and Knowledge toward For-Profit Higher Education Institutions

Overview & Synopsis

Over the last decade, for-profit higher education has been the fastest growing segment within higher education. Despite the growth, little research exists about for-profit higher education institutions. The purpose of this exploratory, descriptive, quantitative study was to examine the attitudes and knowledge of higher education faculty toward for-profit higher education institutions. A conceptual framework was used to understand various topics about for-profit higher education institutions. An instrument was developed to measure attitudes and knowledge and distributed through a web survey to 214 higher education faculty from public and private not-for-profit higher education institutions. Survey respondents totaled 111 and 107 useable surveys resulted in a 50% response rate. Descriptive analysis was used to understand attitudes and knowledge. Results suggested that overall attitudes and knowledge varied based on individual topic. No differences in attitudes were found relative to gender, age, institution type, faculty rank, and years as higher education faculty. The study revealed the need for higher education institutions to share more data and for higher education faculty to engage in more research and policy discussions about the fastest growing segment within higher education, for-profit higher education institutions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]