Date of Award

Winter 1-21-2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Demetri Morgan

Abstract

This dissertation investigated the phenomenon of a significant, acute, externally-driven crisis event on university resilience at four-year, tuition-driven, public and private higher education institutions in the United States of America. The study primarily considered the resilience indicators of university undergraduate enrollment and financial stability through the crisis context of COVID-19. It is theorized that a perceived lack of reliability, flexibility, and pace to evolve that higher education exhibited during and shortly after COVID-19 is a sustained point of vulnerability to a field under increasing review from a range of stakeholders and points of financial and public pressure. The study contemplated if acute, externally-driven crisis events, such as COVID-19, actually lead to reduced undergraduate enrollment, decreased financial stability, and lower or expose a lack of resilience. An exploratory, theoretically-grounded, comparative case study research method was utilized. Primary data collection and analysis were semi-structured interviews with well-informed participants from financial, enrollment, and undergraduate academic advising functions at one public, four-year, tuition-driven institution and at one private, four-year, tuition-driven institution. The supplementary data collection included publicly available documents and internal communications to investigate administrative decision-making surrounding COVID-19 with a focus on enrollment and financial areas of impact. The comparative case analysis was conducted at both the cross-institutional level and the cross-functional unit level. The study design included the Duchek (2020) organizational resilience framework as its conceptual basis and resource dependence theory as its theoretical foundation. The study was time bounded by March 2020–June 2023. Implications and future research that stem from this study are relevant to researchers, administrators, practitioners, and those concerned with the role of higher education and resilient societies and organizations. Primary study contributions included the Resilience Thematic Paradigm, resilience institutional capabilities and capacities, and the Higher Education Resilience Framework.

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