Cecilia M. Orphan

Associate Professor of Higher Education, University of Denver

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About Cecilia

Cecilia’s research broadly examines higher education’s role in a democratic society. She explores how policy and politics shape the mission and strategic direction of colleges and universities including Regional Public Universities (RPUs), Minority Serving Institutions, and Rural-Serving Postsecondary Institutions. From 2006-2011, she directed the American Democracy Project (ADP), a national civic and political engagement initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The 240 RPUs involved in ADP focus on higher education’s role in educating informed, engaged participants for U.S. democracy. Cecilia’s research is informed by her experiences as a working class, first-generation college student who received maximum Pell grants to attend college. She spoke about these experiences during her TED Talk titled “What Makes a Good College – And Why It Matters.”

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | Member Spotlight | In the News | Publications

Contributions

How to Advocate for Regional Comprehensive Universities

Key Findings Brief, July 2018

Why Regional Comprehensive Universities are Vital Parts of U.S. Higher Education

Key Findings Brief, July 2018

No Jargon Podcast

Episode 275:
Higher Ed on the Frontlines

May 2025

In the News

Guest on TEDxMileHigh, April 2022.

Quoted by Kimmy Yam in "Why Colleges Like Harvard Can’t Easily Use Endowments to Replace Federal Funding," NBC News, April 15, 2025.

Quoted by Molly Parker in "The Fragile Campus," Slate, March 27, 2025.

Quoted by Sara Weissman in "Too Little Access to Broad-Access Institutions," Inside Higher Ed, January 31, 2025.

Quoted by Jasper Smith in "Tim Walz Brings a Test for His Alma Mater," The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 11, 2024.

Research discussed by Zach Marcus, in "Those Colleges with “State” in Their Name ," Washington Monthly, August 25, 2024.

Opinion: "Regional Public Universities Don't Need Rescuing," Cecilia M. Orphan (with Kevin R. McClure, Alisa Hicklin Fryar, and and Andrew Koricich), The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 21, 2021.

Quoted by Jason Gonzales in "Colorado Hopes a New Higher Education Funding Formula Will Make a Difference for Students. It May Not Be Easy.," The Colorado Sun, August 12, 2020.

Quoted by Jaime Adame in "Board approves Drale to serve two-year term as UALR chancellor," Arkansas Democrat Gazette, September 13, 2019.

Quoted by Madeline St. Amour in "Some faculty worry president’s new positions make CU system admin-heavy," Daily Camera, July 20, 2019.

Quoted by Rick Seltzer in "Squeezed From All Sides: Opportunities and Challenges for Regional Public Universities," Inside Higher Ed, July 8, 2019.

Publications

"Regional Public Universities: Expanding Higher Education's ROI for Students and Communities" (with Mac Wetherbee), Third Way, March 2025.

Describes the types of Regional Public Universities (RPUs) that exist and the students and regions that they serve, helping policymakers understand how these vital institutions contribute to their constituents while offering policy recommendations to best support RPUs in generating return on investment (ROI) and value for their students and communities.

"Identifying, Defining, and Supporting Regional Public Universities and Colleges" (with Mac Wetherbee and Becket Duncan), Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges, December 2022.

Identifies, defines, and examines the entire Regional Public University sector and its students using an inductive, data-driven approach that identified RPUs that exhibited similar missions and institutional characteristics. Contributes a data infrastructure to support future quantitative inquiry into these vital institutions.

"Introducing Our Nation’s Rural-Serving Institutions: Promoting Greater Visibility and Appreciation for a Vital Postsecondary Sector" (with Andrew Koricich, Vanessa A. Sansone, Alisa Hicklin Fryar, and Kevin R. McClure), Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges, January 2022.

Develops a metric for identifying rural-serving postsecondary institutions and offers a range of publicly available data products and tools to promote research about these critical institutions.

Unlocking Opportunity through Broadly Accessible Institutions (edited with Gloria Crisp and Kevin R. McClure). (Routledge, 2021).

Highlights the unique mission and purpose of bachelor’s degree granting accessible institutions (BAIs), exploring the challenges and opportunities present within these institutions, and offering a counterpoint to the current dialogue that frames these institutions with a deficit-perspective.

"Advocates or Honest Information Brokers? Examining the Higher Education Public Policy Agenda-Setting Processes of Intermediary Organizations" (with Sophia Laderman and Ryan Evely Gildersleeve). The Review of Higher Education 44, no. 3 (2021): 325-355.

Examines how intermediary organizations (IOs) construct higher education policy issues, problems, and solutions, and the processes they employ to set the higher education policy agenda. Findings demonstrate that IOs engage in multiple agenda-setting processes including coalition building, hosting convenings, storytelling, publishing policy agendas, and leveraging focusing events.

"An Anchor for the Region: Examining a Regional Comprehensive University’s Efforts to Serve its Rural, Appalachian Community" (with Kevin R. McClure). Journal of Research in Rural Education 35, no. 9 (2019): 1-19.

Examines how a single Regional Comprehensive University (RCU) serves its rural, Appalachian region. Findings demonstrate the RCU’s role as an anchor institution as it expended resources to grow, invest in, and leverage rural community capitals. The university’s most significant focus as an anchor institution was on leveraging and increasing human capital through investing in education, workforce development, and public health.

"The Company Regional Comprehensive Universities Desire to Keep: Choosing Institutional Membership Associations" (with Graham N. S. Miller). The Journal of Higher Education (2019).

"Fostering Collective Impact: Measuring and Advancing Higher Education’s Contributions to Civic Health and Equity in Colorado" (with Deborah Romero and Liliana Diaz-Solodukhin). International Journal of Research on Service-Learning & Community Engagement 6, no. 1 (2019): Article 5.

"State of rhetoric: neoliberal discourses for education in state of the state addresses and gubernatorial press releases" Journal of Education Policy (2018).

"Public Purpose under Pressure: Examining the Effects of Neoliberal Public Policy on the Missions of Regional Comprehensive Universities" Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement 22, no. 2 (2018).

Presents a qualitative case study of four regional comprehensive universities grappling with their public purposes within a state policy and funding context shaped by neoliberal ideology. Carries long-term implications for the future of community-engaged research, the civic education of students, and the public purposes of higher education.

"'Building Bridges, Not Fences': A History of Civic Engagement at Private Black Colleges and Universities, 1944-1965" (with Marybeth Gasman and Dorsey Spencer). History of Education Quarterly 55, no. 3 (2015): 346-379.

Draws on how the unique histories of these various sectors of higher education position them for civic engagement work as well as the institutional efforts to engage local communities.

"Student Political Engagement in the Co-Curriculum: Understanding the Role of Senior Student Affairs Officers" (with Demetri L. Morgan). eJournal of Public Affairs 5, no. 2 (2016): 10-39.

Uncovers how the socialization of senior student affairs officers influences approaches to student civic/political development.