Hiding in Plain Sight: The Potential of State-Level Governing Boards in Postsecondary Education Policy Agenda-Setting

State-level governing boards (SLGBs) can play an essential regulatory role as intermediaries between the public, state-elected officials, and campus-level leadership. However, these boards have been understudied within higher education relative to their enormous potential to influence postsecondary institutions and state political dynamics via the ways they engage and leverage political discourse in the agenda setting process. To explore this latent function, the authors analyze strategic plans generated by SLGBs of 33 states to theorize how these entities leverage economic, public purpose, and accountability discourses in the policymaking process. The overarching questions were: 1) what are the dominant discourses in SLGB strategic plans and 2) to which audience are these plans directed? The authors build on the concepts of collaborative governance and the Policy Streams Model of Decentralization Agenda Setting to illuminate and contextualize dimensions of the potential for SLGBs to operate as important policy actors. The authors present a conceptual framework that can help scholars better understand how SLGBs and policy discourses interact to achieve institutional and state priorities. Implications for policymakers engaging in strategic planning are also included.