Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
Spring 5-2018
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0433-0029
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Carley Dodd
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Bruce Scott
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Donnie Snider
Abstract
Enrollment in independent schools in the U.S. has been in decline for 15 years. Faith-based schools have experienced more significant decline than non-religious schools. School leaders have been struggling to find solutions to prevent further enrollment loss and to promote future growth. The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons parents decide to enroll their children in a faith-based schools. According to the literature, factors associated with national enrollment decline include economic challenges, declining religiosity, increased competition, maturing of business cycle, rising tuition, poor marketing, and generational changes in parental values related to schooling. To explore these and other factors of parent choices related to enrollment, I conducted a quantitative study and developed a survey to investigate criteria for enrollment decisions, enrollment satisfaction, perceptions for schooling options, the impact of religiosity, perceptions related to tuition and school value, and various demographic factors. The study revealed several key findings including the discovery of an enrollment decision scale and an enrollment satisfaction scale, both consisting of 17 enrollment factors. Parent religiosity was found to have a significant impact on enrollment decisions. Also, parent satisfaction correlated with the likelihood of a parent recommending the school. The study also revealed two enrollment decision correlational models: the satisfaction model and the promoter model. These models may help create a predictive model for enrollment decisions and answers to leaders searching for solutions to enrollment challenges.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Harsh, Scott, "Factors of Enrollment for K-12 Christian Schools" (2018). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 89.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/89