Exploring the "How" in Policy Diffusion: A National Intermediary Organization's Role in Facilitating the Spread of College Completion Policies in the States

• In Event: 66.041 - Insights on Policy Implementation: The State Role in Higher Education Effectiveness and Finance

Abstract

Despite abundant evidence of the virtual ubiquity of certain higher education policies, including performance-based funding formulas, to date, we know little about the mechanisms by which these policies spread. In this study, we examine the extent to which a national higher education policy organization that promotes specific policy solutions facilitates the diffusion of college completion-related policies in the U.S. states. We find that the intermediary plays various roles that enable the spread of completion policy information, including by facilitating networking, supplying information, and, most directly, by promoting specific policy solutions. This study represents an alternative approach to analyses of policy diffusion that allows for an in-depth exploration of one aspect of the process by which policies spread across the U.S. states.

Authors

• Denisa Gandara, University of Georgia - Athens

• Jennifer A. Rippner, University System of Georgia

• Erik C. Ness, University of Georgia