巨型大学对高校竞争与成果的影响

摘要

Just 16 Mega Universities (MUs) collectively enroll 5 percent of all undergraduate and over 10 percent of graduate students in the U.S., yet little is known about how these predominantly online institutions fit into the postsecondary education landscape. We leverage new data covering the universe of federal student aid applicants to describe students served, degrees and geographic specializations, and student outcomes at MUs. MU enrollment is concentrated in the rural south, mid-Atlantic, and southwest, where up to 20 percent of federal higher education aid recipients attend MUs. MUs compete broadly with other open-access institutions and specialize in fields like business, computer and information sciences, and homeland security. MU students have lower average completion rates and leave with higher average student loan debt compared to students at ”competitor” schools, defined using preferences indicated through federal aid applications. For undergraduate students on the margin of MU enrollment, completion rates tend to be lower and both student loan take-up and default higher compared to demographically similar peers with identical college preferences who enroll in other institutions, though heterogeneity exists across individual MUs.