Impacts of the Repression of Student Activism on the Transition to Universal Higher Education Through Case Study and Examination of 4-year graduation, 6-year Graduation, and Retention Rates at Three Large Public Research Universities

Abstract

Through case studies of three cases of student activism and subsequent university response from 2015, this thesis seeks to understand the connections between the repression of student activism and the failed shift from elite to mass to universal higher education as described by sociologist Martin Trow. Specifically, an examination of the correlation between 4- and 6- year graduation rates and each university’s response to student activism on their campus provides the foundation for further research which could investigate the existence of a causal relationship between the repression of student activism and measures of student success like graduation rates.