A Statistical Analysis of Southern Land Grants in Addressing Declining College Enrollment

With declining enrollment of higher education, it is crucial to analyze current mechanics in order to maintain higher education’s benefits to society. Currently, research is aware that land grants serve an important historical role in promoting enrollment, yet additional research is required on their contemporary impact on enrollment and institutional aid. Specifically, this study evaluates land grants universities - institutions established under the Morrill Act of 1862 - and data collected from their respective Common Data Sets on historical enrollment and institutional aid from 2013 to 2023. A point-biserial correlation analysis and two sample t-test are used to understand the statistical significance of land grant status. This study concludes that land grants status is not statistically significant in percent change for enrollment and institutional aid. However, the land grants studied exhibit significance in the proportion of students applying for aid and students who received it. The findings of this study highlights the need for further analysis of the contemporary role of land grants in addressing higher education enrollment trends.