The impact of academic library expenditure on college graduation rates

Jung, Yong Ju; Choi, Junghee

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/123124 Copy

Description

Title

The impact of academic library expenditure on college graduation rates

Author(s)

• Jung, Yong Ju
• Choi, Junghee

Issue Date

2023-09

Keyword(s)

• Academic Libraries
• Administration
• Graduation Rate
• Ipeds
• Library Expenditure
• Student Success
• Students

Abstract

Some higher education institutions have announced plans for cutting funding for academic libraries in response to fiscal difficulties. However, academic libraries provide essential resources and experiences for college students, and a number of studies have investigated how institutional expenditure for academic libraries is associated with student graduation. Yet, these studies are limited in that they only examine cross-sectional correlations, do not control for other factors that can influence student success, or only examine a relatively small number of institutions. To address these limitations, we use longitudinal data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS) to analyze the relationship between institutional expenditure on academic libraries and student graduation rates. In particular, we examine how library expenditure is associated with not just overall graduation rates, but the graduation rates of low-income students (i.e., recipients of the federal Pell Grant). Preliminary results indicate that institutional expenditure for academic libraries is positively associated with both overall student graduation rates and the graduation rates of low-income students, net of multiple institutional characteristics linked to graduation rates. Our findings support the importance of investing in academic libraries for student success and evidence against the budget cut of academic libraries. Our study also sheds light on academic libraries’ relevance for the performance of low-income students in universities.

Series/Report Name or Number

Proceedings of the ALISE Annual Conference, 2023

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/123124

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2023.1263

Copyright and License Information

• Copyright 2023 Yong Ju Jung, Junghee Choi
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

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