The effects of tuition fees on transition from high school to university in Germany

This paper studies whether the introduction of tuition fees at public universities in some German states had a negative effect on enrollment, i.e., on the transition of high school graduates to public universities in Germany. In contrast to recent studies, we do not find a significant effect on aggregate enrollment rates. Our study differs from previous studies in three important ways. First, we take full account of the fact that tuition fees were both introduced and abolished in the German states at different points in time. Second, we consider control variables, which are absent in previous studies but turn out to have a significant impact on the evolution of enrollment rates. Third, we allow for state-specific effects of tuition fees on enrollment rates. We conclude that there is no evidence for a general negative effect of the recent introduction of tuition fees on enrollment in Germany.     

Tuition-Setting Authority and Broad-Based Merit Aid: The Effect of Policy Intersection on Pricing Strategies

The notion of merit-aid is not a new development in higher education. Although previous researchers have demonstrated the impact of state-adopted merit-aid funding on student decision-making, fewer studies have examined institutional pricing responses to broad-based merit-aid policies. Using a generalized difference-in-difference approach, we extend previous empirical work by examining the impact of merit-aid on institutional pricing strategies while considering both the institution’s tuition-setting authority and the relative strength of the merit-aid program. In this study, we find that colleges and universities with the authority to set their own tuition increased their in-state tuition and fees following broad-based merit-aid policy adoption; however, institutions with state-controlled tuition-setting authority respond to broad-based merit-aid policies by lowering their in-state tuition and fees. Our findings suggest that the incentives and dynamics of each state’s policy environment are significant determinants of institutional responses to state-level policy adoptions.     

英国高校国际学生学费的变化及其对高等教育的影响

在全球化时代，高等院校学生的全球流动给国际学生输入国的政治、经济以及高等教育带来了重要影响。英国作为国际学生的主要接收国之一，其优质的高等教育吸引着来自世界各地的学生。在新自由主义意识形态、国际教育服务贸易理念与高等教育财政拨款投入制度的影响下，英国逐步向国际学生收取高额学费。英国高校国际学生学费的变化呈现出新的特点，影响着国际学生的来源结构、生源数量与质量，可能导致高校课程调整与师资流失。国际学生学费的变化引发了英国社会对高等教育市场化取向与国际学生公平教育权益的讨论，并实施了将国际学生学费与院校国际教育质量挂钩、以奖助学金形式平衡国际学生学费压力等具体改革举措。     

Financing institutions of higher education in India: The need for a realistic fee policy

The contribution of tuition fees to the income of higher education institutions in India is reviewed against a background of inadequate financial support. A differential system of tuition fees is proposed under which students not deemed suitable for higher education would be admitted to universities or colleges subject to payment of tuition fees which reflected the full costs of their higher education.The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/policies of the Planning Commission.     

Are full-time MBAs performing?

Full-time MBA students amount to about one-third of the 26,000 students enrolled on MBA programmes at UK universities. The programmes have become increasingly international in student composition and concerns have been expressed about performance, quality and comparability between programmes. Research into predictors of MBA success has been equivocal with few clear indicators. This paper presents two case studies at two post-1992 universities of full-time MBA programmes and the relationship between entry qualifications – interpreted widely – and graduation success. Full-time programmes inevitably attract overseas students from outside Europe and this creates differences, not only in culture and ethos, but also in content, teaching methods, assessment and attitudes to assessment. The discussion includes the competing perspectives of financial performance and education and the changing face of MBA programmes due to internationalisation. It concludes that there are broad similarities between the two institutions which has wider application and offers an approach that may enhance performance through improved application processes and the management of staff and student expectations.     

What's in a name? The impact of reputation and rankings on the teaching income of English universities

This study examines the impact of universities’ reputation on teaching income and demonstrates how strongly reputation may affect the fees that they can charge. Higher Education is increasingly competitive and international, and institutions are preoccupied with national and international prestige. Research output is demonstrably central to reputation and, specifically, to global rankings, but less has been written about the benefits of high prestige for teaching income and the ability to charge high fees. This article uses English data to show the impact when fees are partially deregulated. Public universities with high rankings in global league tables and on domestic measures can command teaching income per student which is very much higher (in this case typically more than a third) than lower‐prestige institutions. This financial return to prestige further increases universities’ incentives to seek high positions in league tables and establish a reputational brand.     

The end of free college in England: Implications for enrolments,equity, and quality

Despite increasing financial pressures on higher education systems throughout the world, many governments remain resolutely opposed to the introduction of tuition fees, and some countries and states where tuition fees have been long established are now reconsidering free higher education. This paper examines the consequences of charging tuition fees on university enrolments, equity, and proxies for institutional quality. To do so, we study the English higher education system which has, in just two decades, moved from a free college system to one in which tuition fees are among the highest in the world. Our findings suggest that England's shift has resulted in increased funding per head and rising enrolments, with no apparent widening of the participation gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. The role of fees is moderated by other key features of higher education finance which may differ across countries: in contrast to other systems with high tuition fees, the English system is distinct in that its income-contingent loan system ensures that no tuition fees are paid upfront, and provides students with comparatively generous assistance for living expenses. Still, the English experience provides an instructive case for other countries considering implementing or abolishing tuition fees.     

University Strategy in an Age of Uncertainty: The Effect of Higher Education Funding on Old and New Universities

This paper explores the effects of changes in funding arrangements, and particularly in tuition fees, on universities and their strategic responses to these changes. Using data from interviews with senior managers in four universities, it finds the most prestigious, pre‐1992, university largely unaffected by tuition fees and the others responding to changes in application patterns and intake. However, the effects of tuition fees on university strategy are not easily separated from other changes in the funding of Higher Education, and universities’ strategies were strongly influenced by the need to reduce costs and to generate income. A second major concern of all four universities was quality, both of inputs such as students and staff and of outputs, in degree results and ratings in employability, research, teaching and other activities. Marketing was assuming a position of increasing importance, with universities striving to develop a ‘brand’ to attract students, staff and funding.     

Do tuition fees affect the mobility of university applicants? Evidence from a natural experiment

Several German states recently introduced tuition fees for university education. We investigate whether these tuition fees influence the mobility of university applicants. Based on administrative data of applicants for medical schools in Germany, we estimate the effect of tuition fees on the probability of applying for a university in the home state. We find a small but significant reaction: The probability of applying for a university in the home state falls by 2 percentage points (baseline: 69%) for high-school graduates who come from a state with tuition fees. Moreover, we find that students with better high-school grades react more strongly to tuition fees. This might have important effects on the composition of students across states.     

The effect of tuition fees on student mobility: the UK and Ireland as a natural experiment

We exploit changes in student funding policies across the four UK nations and the Republic of Ireland to conduct a natural experiment investigating the marginal effect of differing tuition fee levels on students' enrolment behaviour. Whilst previous international research suggests increases in fees suppress demand and disincentivise cross‐border educational migration, some studies in North America and Germany find an element of inelasticity of demand. In the UK, various commentators have predicted marked shifts in student mobility in response to variation in tuition fee prices by country, trends expected to sharpen following substantial planned rises in tuition fees from 2012. After outlining tuition fee policies in the UK and Ireland, we analyse data on student enrolment destinations across the five countries for the period 2000–2010. We find little evidence to support the notion that student mobility is driven by economic ‘rationality’. Enrolment rates have risen despite increases in tuition fees and there is a long‐term trend for students to stay at home. Students seem not to be ‘pushed’ out‐of‐country by higher fees, but may be discouraged from moving if fees are lower in‐country. Student mobility within the UK and Ireland follows well‐worn paths from and to specific countries and institutions. Finally, we consider the implications of our findings for student mobility in general and forthcoming changes to UK student funding policies in particular.     

The Impact of League Tables on University Application Rates

In the UK, the popular use of league tables in assessing the comparative standing of universities has escalated to such an extent that most UK national newspapers now publish them. A review of literature to date suggests there has been little academic research undertaken to establish the value of such tables or to assess their impact upon student application rates. This paper explores the relationship between league position and application rates in the UK, using rankings from the Sunday Times as an example, with important lessons for higher education across the globe. Results show that in the period when league tables were newly introduced, there was a significant negative association between league table position (ranked from highest to lowest) and the change in application rates (that is, the higher the league position, the faster the growth in applications) an association that subsequently weakened and may have even have reversed. The paper goes on to explore the notion of various divisions within the overall league table, suggesting that there are effectively two 'selecting' divisions, typically choosing from a surplus of applicants, and two 'recruiting' divisions, typically working to avoid an applications shortfall against target numbers.     

高等教育学费上涨与居民收入关系实证研究

运用单位根检验(ADF)、Johansen协整检验、G ranger因果检验和脉冲响应函数分析对高等教育学费上涨与我国居民收入差距进行了G ranger因果关系检验,得出的结论是:在高等教育年平均学费上涨速度高于居民年平均收入的增长速度情况下,高等教育年平均学费和年平均收入的比值与我国的居民生活困难加大存在协整关系;存在协整关系的情况下,学费上涨与居民生活困难的变化构成一定的因果关系。     

Conflicting logics of online higher education

Abstract

The advent of massive open online courses and online degrees offered via digital platforms has occurred in a climate of austerity. Public universities worldwide face challenges to expand their educational reach, while competing in international rankings, raising fees and generating third-stream income. Online forms of unbundled provision offering smaller flexible low-cost curricular units have promised to disrupt this system. Yet do these forms challenge existing hierarchies in higher education and the market logic that puts pressure on universities and public institutions at large in the neoliberal era? Based on fieldwork in South Africa, this article explores the perceptions of senior managers of public universities and of online programme management companies. Analysing their considerations around unbundled provision, we discuss two conflicting logics of higher education that actors in structurally different positions and in historically divergent institutions use to justify their involvement in public–private partnerships: the logic of capital and the logic of social relevance.     

Family background, financial constraints and higher education attendance in China

Using data from the 2004 China College Student Survey, conducted by the author, this paper finds that long-term factors such as scholastic ability and parental education are significantly correlated with higher education attendance. By contrast, short-term financial constraints are also significantly associated with higher education access, but to a lesser degree. Furthermore, in recent years China's higher education expansion has provided broader access to students from lower income families. However, the tuition fees and “net prices” of elite universities are lower than those of medium quality universities, while the tuition fees and “net prices” of medium quality universities are lower than those of relatively low quality universities and colleges. This has led to a reverse relationship between family income and attendance costs, such that lower income families now shoulder a much higher burden for their childrens’ university education than higher income families.     

西方国家高等教育学费政策的变化及其影响--以英国、澳大利亚、爱尔兰和美国为例

20世纪90年代以来高等教育学费政策在许多国家发生了很大变化,这些变化对高等教育的发展产生了重要影响.以英国、澳大利亚、爱尔兰和美国等国为例,英国学费政策实施时间虽短但处于不断调整之中;澳大利亚毕业后付费政策在世界上独树一帜;爱尔兰反其道而行之,取消学费效果最终如何?美国引领世界高等教育潮流,学费不断上涨结果如何?是什么因素影响学费政策的变化?这些国家学费政策变化最终会产生什么影响?     

Higher education financing and the educational aspirations of teenagers and their parents

We study the impact of higher education financing on the academic aspirations of teenagers and their parents. We exploit a reform which introduced a large increase in the tuition fees universities can charge, more generous support for the poorest students and a more redistributive student loan system, and varied across the UK’s constituent countries. Using rare survey data on post compulsory secondary and university education aspirations, we find that teenagers’ aspirations are not responsive to large changes in higher education financing. In contrast, parents adjust their aspirations, resulting in a reduction of the socio-economic aspiration gap for their children.     

Differences by degree: Evidence of the net financial rates of return to undergraduate study for England and Wales

This paper provides estimates of the impact of higher education qualifications on the earnings of graduates in the U.K. by subject studied. We use data from the recent U.K. Labour Force Surveys which provide a sufficiently large sample to consider the effects of the subject studied, class of first degree, and postgraduate qualifications. Ordinary Least Squares estimates show high average returns for women that does not differ by subject. For men, we find very large returns for Law, Economics and Management but not for other subjects. Degree class has large effects in all subjects suggesting the possibility of large returns to effort. Postgraduate study has large effects, independently of first degree class.A large rise in tuition fees across all subjects has only a modest impact on relative rates of return suggesting that little substitution across subjects would occur. The strong message that comes out of this research is that even a large rise in tuition fees makes little difference to the quality of the investment – those subjects that offer high returns (LEM for men, and all subjects for women) continue to do so. And those subjects that do not (especially OSSAH for men) will continue to offer poor returns. The effect of fee rises is dwarfed by existing cross subject differences in returns.     

低收费政策能改善教育公平和社会福利吗?——兼论高等教育不同收费政策的效应

Traditionally there has been a theoretical view that raising tuition fees will undermine education equity and social welfare. This study examines the effects of different tuition policies on both these factors. A statistical analysis is made on the theoretical relationship between higher education tuition fees and dropout probability, which leads to the conclusion that the effects of both policies on education equity vary with circumstances. Further, under severe polarization between the rich and the poor in China, low tuition fee policy fails to effectively improve access to higher education and social welfare for low-income groups. On the contrary, high tuition fee policy may have better effectiveness.     

再论高等教育的产业属性——兼论高等教育大众化的发展途径

当代,高等教育的产业属性不仅被越来越多的国家所认识,而且有成为发展高等教育的一个重要行动思想的趋势。近年来,一些发达国家的高等学校逐渐接受了投资—回报或投入—产出观念,不断提高学费标准,积极开拓和扩大高等教育国际贸易市场。为进一步加快我国高等教育大众化步伐,需要在三个方面给予政策关注:提高高等教育的收费标准;进一步推进我国的民办高等教育事业;提升我国高等教育的国际化水平。     

Higher Educational Cost-Sharing,Dual-Track Tuition Fees,and Higher Educational Access: The East African Experience

Three universal demands characterize higher education globally: the demand for higher quality, for increased access, and for greater equity. In East Africa, where resources are highly constrained, no nation has been able to meet these demands on the basis of public expenditures alone. Instead countries have had to increase resources from nonpublic sources, including tuition fees. In countries with strong resistance to tuition fees and where the difficulty of taxation is combined with a daunting queue of competing public sector needs, a dual-track tuition policy is especially popular whereby the most capable applicants are financed from public resources and other qualified students are allowed admission on a fee-paying basis. This article studies dual-track policies in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. We find that although rewarding ability, the dual-track policies did little to offer opportunities for the poor.