The Rise of Self-Sustaining Master’s Programs: What Is at Stake for Public Research Universities and Students

Abstract

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, master’s education has expanded rapidly in the United States. Few studies have examined the reasons for the expansion of master’s programs, especially not for the increase in self-sustaining professional master’s programs (SSMPs) in public universities. This dissertation research explores the institutional rationales for establishing and expanding self-sustaining master’s programs in public research universities during the last 20 years. SSMPs are academic programs in public universities that operate independently of state appropriations and only rely on student tuition as their financial means. This dissertation further analyzes the implication of the expansion of SSMPs on the institutional proclaimed missions of diversity and inclusion. Informed by organizational decision-making and educational theories, this comparative, multi-university, multi-state case study primarily adopted qualitative data collection and analysis methods complemented by examining secondary quantitative data. The study finds that depending on the timeline of an SSMP creation, the motivating factors for the SSMPs in the sample institutions include serving non-traditional student population (e.g., working professionals), coping with state budget cuts and financial uncertainty, and desiring additional revenue by the college/school or graduate department leadership. This study also surfaces that the revenue-generating SSMPs do not meaningfully contribute to the diversity and inclusion mission of public universities. The existence of SSMP presents an inherent tension among the pursuit of revenue, elements of academic quality, and existing measures of accountability. Recommendations for more equitable practices among SSMPs highlight instituting more frequent academic reviews, providing funding assistance to recruit more underrepresented minority students, increasing staff-to-student ratios to provide accessible academic and career services, and ensuring more transparency in reporting program outcomes to support applicants and students in making informed decisions.