| This dissertation explores the democratic ideal of access to higher education in the United States and the role of private, non-selective liberal arts colleges in an era of changing societal needs for mass education. The viability of six sample institutions is studied for the 1980 to 1989 time period. These institutions are examined in the context of internal factors defining their institutional character and external factors describing their social, economic, and political niche in American society.; The sample institutions are: Unity College, Maine; Barrington College, Rhode Island; Jamestown College, North Dakota; Milton College, Wisconsin; Sierra Nevada College, Nevada; and Loretto Heights College, Colorado. The internal factors examined are mission, curriculum, admissions, financial condition, and leadership. The external factors examined are population statistics, economic indicators, religious statistics, and competing institutions.; Within these six colleges, six different types of educational opportunity are explored. Institutional opportunity was offered to students who: were academically under prepared; sought a college with a Christian value system; sought an institution that offered independence from state control of the curriculum; were in need of a second chance after failing at another institution of higher education; desired academic choices in a non-traditional setting; came from one segment of the population that traditionally was not offered acceptance at any institution of higher education.; The factors that allow institutions to survive are a consistent mission statement, a constant curriculum, maintenance or improvement in admissions standards, a mostly positive financial condition, decisive leadership, and a lack of competing institutions. The results of this study are limited to the sample. Generalizing beyond the sample does not have strict external validity.; This study shows that the organizational adaptation of institutional culture to the social context is crucial for the survival of institutions of higher education. The political implications of these findings add to the literature for the role of private, non-selective liberal arts colleges in the system of American higher education. This is important for the future as American society searches for ways that it can continue to fulfill the federalist goals of institutional autonomy and individual needs in the context to higher education. |
