ABSTRACT

Intermediary organizations (IOs) are influential policy actors in higher education. Yet, little is known regarding the role of philanthropic foundations in sponsoring IOs for policy promotion. By relying on longitudinal analysis of grants, semi-structured interviews, and social network analysis, this study examined the most central IOs within foundation-sponsored networks, documenting rationales behind this grantmaking strategy. Data included nearly 7,000 grants from 2004 to 2014, representing nearly $3b in postsecondary funding. Results demonstrated that over a decade, the field of higher education philanthropy has shifted, with a decrease in traditional forms of grantmaking and an increase in field-building efforts. Specifically, grants flowing to IOs focused on policy advocacy and completion purposes, or what can be described as a high-leverage approach to educational philanthropy. Furthermore, the most influential voices within philanthropic-sponsored networks were linked to the college completion agenda, a powerful reform movement seeking to increase national degree productivity. By emphasizing philanthropic organizations and their relationships with IOs, this study extends postsecondary policy analysis from a state-centric approach to one that considers non-state actors’ role in policy advocacy and educational reform.

摘要

中介组织 (IO) 是高等教育中具有影响力的政策参与者。然而，人们对慈善基金会在赞助 IO 以促进政策促进方面的作用知之甚少。通过对资助的纵向分析、半结构化访谈和社交网络分析，本研究检查了基金会赞助网络中最核心的 IO，记录了该资助策略背后的基本原理。数据包括 2004 年至 2014 年的近 7,000 笔赠款，相当于近 3b 美元的高等教育资金。结果表明，十多年来，高等教育慈善领域发生了变化，传统形式的赠款减少了，而实地建设工作增加了。具体而言，流向 IO 的赠款侧重于政策倡导和完成目的，或者可以被描述为教育慈善事业的高杠杆方法。此外，慈善赞助网络中最有影响力的声音与大学完成议程有关，这是一项旨在提高国家学位生产力的强大改革运动。通过强调慈善组织及其与 IO 的关系，本研究将高等教育政策分析从以国家为中心的方法扩展到考虑非国家行为者在政策倡导和教育改革中的作用的方法。