Dimensions of Variance in the Proposed Typology of American Public Higher Education Systems. CSHE 3.26

The typology of public higher education systems is important because system-level characteristics shape institutional behavior, policy implementation, performance, and student outcomes in ways that institutional-level analyses often overlook. This article presents a theoretical framework for key dimensions of variance in the proposed typology of public higher education systems in America, including mission, governance authority, size and scale, institutional composition, funding models, and state social and economic context. It reflects patterns observed in system-level data spanning more than a hundred public higher education systems nationwide, recently compiled by the National Association of Higher Education Systems (NASH). This work represents an early stage of inquiry and is intended to serve as a foundation for additional research. The next phase of this work will apply the typology across systems to support deeper empirical analysis, benchmarking, and its use by system leaders, policy makers, and researchers.