Green performance in higher education: how institutional and contextual factors shape sustainability ratings

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine whether North American higher education institutions’ (HEIs) sustainability (STARS) ratings changed significantly after the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) climate-related disclosure proposal. In addition, this study analyzes the past three reporting cycles to assess whether institutional and contextual characteristics remain key determinants of sustainability ratings, drawing on institutional theory. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses regarding changes in sustainability (sub)scores were tested with paired-sample t-tests, and the institutional and contextual characteristics were tested with fixed-effects regression. Findings Institutional control and full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment are determinants of HEIs’ green performance, thereby supporting the normative isomorphism premise of institutional theory. Furthermore, following the SEC’s initiative, the sustainability scores of HEIs have increased substantially over the last two reporting cycles, with positive shifts in the sub-ratings reinforcing improvements in total scores, which supports coercive isomorphism. Practical implications The findings of this study advance institutional theory by empirically validating the assumptions of normative and coercive isomorphism. This study also helps administrators and policymakers identify key institutional and contextual drivers of sustainability performance for more strategic resource allocation. The sub-scores from this study may also serve as a benchmarking tool for HEIs to adopt best practices from structurally comparable peers within the same state. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to show that HEIs are responding to stakeholder expectations for sustainability, as reflected in improved green performance following the SEC’s initiative. This study also uniquely examines the influence of state-level factors, unlike prior studies, which focused mainly on climatic zones.