How Adequately Do States Acknowledge the Broad Access Institution Mission? - A Content and Discourse Analysis of State Funding Models

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai

The study examines how state funding models across the WICHE region acknowledge the student-centeredness, regional service, and postsecondary access missions of Broad Access Institutions (BAIs). It treats funding adequacy as occurring when state models explicitly recognize and resource BAIs as distinct from other institutional types, and it scores states using content and Policy Discourse Analysis grounded in critical emancipatory policy theory. Findings show inadequate recognition structures BAI students’ academic experiences, while also narrowing BAIs toward postsecondary and workforce roles, reinforcing funding hierarchies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Research Focus

Adequacy and Mission Acknowledgement

Research Questions and Method

Findings and Implications

Student Outcomes and Funding Disparities

Mission Narrowing and Policy Hierarchies

HOW ADEQUATELY DO STATES ACKNOWLEDGE THE BROAD ACCESS INSTITUTION MISSION? A CONTENT AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF STATE FUNDING MODELS July 2025 CECILIA M. ORPHAN KATIE KLEINHESSELINKESSA NJIE How Adequately do States Acknowledge the Broad Access Institution Mission? A Content and Discourse Analysis of State Funding Models Policymakers commonly assert that Broad Access Institutions (BAIs) cannot be “all things to all people”when cutting their funding (Ellis, 2019) . Yet BAIs were founded with comprehensive missions to foster postsecondary access and student-centeredness for diverse students who were excluded from non-BAIs, and to promote regional workforce and community development (Crisp et al., 2019; Orphan, 2018; Supplee et al., 2023) . Following Crisp and colleagues (2019), we define BAIs as four-year public institutions that accept at least 80% of applicants. BAIs generate postsecondary access through low barriers for admission and affordable tuition and promote student-centeredness through institutional foci on students, learning, and teaching (Orphan & McClure, 2022) . Being student-centered and accessible and addressing regional needs may necessitate being “all things” to students and communities (Orphan & McClure 2019; Supplee et al., 2023) . Yet, policy rhetoric of “not being all things to all people” may reveal a lack of understanding of, or appreciation for, the comprehensive BAI mission, which may in turn influence policymakers’ choices about how to fund higher education. The current study evaluated how adequately funding models across states in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) region account for the student-centeredness, regional service, and postsecondary access missions of BAIs. We built on Layzell (2007), who posited that funding adequacy ensures that postsecondary institutions have enough funding to fulfill their missions, to conceptualize adequacy as existing when state funding models explicitly acknowledged and resourced BAIs. We do not consider funding levels and amounts for BAIs specifically, but instead examine how state funding models acknowledge the BAI mission as one that is distinct from other institutional missions (e.g., that of community colleges, private universities, flagship universities, etc. ) worthy of state investment. We achieved this goal by scoring states on measures that reveal how adequately they account for the BAI mission. We were interested in BAIs given their vital role in generating upward mobility and educational equity for low-income students and racially minoritized students (de Alva 2019) and their regional service (Orphan et al., 2018; Orphan et al., 2022) . We were interested in the WICHE states because they makeup a large and diverse swath of the United States, ranging from the most populous and racially diverse state (California) to some of the least populous and racially diverse states (Montana and Wyoming) . We conceptualize state funding models as policy texts that act as scholars in situ, discursively constructing the purpose of BAIs and their role in their states, and by extension, the marginalized students they enroll. Prior research demonstrates that BAIs and their students receive inequitable funding relative to non-BAIs, including land grant and flagship institutions (Horn et al., 2023; Orphan et al., 2022), yet state funding levels are correlated with outcomes for marginalized students, with higher funding leading to better student outcomes (Ahlman et al., 2019; Cummings et al., 2021; Horn et al., 2023) . Research has also found that BAIs that serve students with the highest needs receive the least amount of state funding (Ahlman et al., 2019) . Our research explored how state funding models facilitate or stunt student success vis-à-vis acknowledgement of this institutional mission. Our study used critical emancipatory policy theory, which explores the benefits and harms created by policy and funding for marginalized

FAQs

What does the study consider “funding adequacy” for Broad Access Institutions?

Funding adequacy exists when state funding models explicitly acknowledge and resource BAIs and treat their mission as distinct from other institutional missions worthy of state investment.

Which region and institutions does the research analyze?

It evaluates state funding models across the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) region and focuses on Broad Access Institutions (four-year public institutions accepting at least 80% of applicants).

How do the authors explain the impact of state funding models on BAI students?

The study argues that inadequate mission acknowledgement structures BAI students’ potential and academic experiences, narrowing the comprehensive mission toward postsecondary and workforce roles and reinforcing funding hierarchies that may harm students and communities.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai