11 results
Search Results
2. Higher education responses to accountability.
- Author
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Machado, Anaely, Terra, Rafael, and Tannuri-Pianto, Maria
- Subjects
- *
HIGHER education , *REGRESSION discontinuity design , *EDUCATIONAL accountability , *PUNISHMENT (Psychology) , *UNDERGRADUATE programs - Abstract
This paper estimates the impact of accountability scores on Brazilian higher education. We implement a regression discontinuity design to explore a natural experiment resulting from the federal rules for assigning quality levels to undergraduate programs. We test whether program quality is sensitive to negative reinforcement, such as punishments imposed when a minimum threshold is not attained. The findings indicate that program administrators exhibit a positive response to the prospect of punishment by enhancing program quality in the subsequent evaluation cycle. The primary drivers of this advancement – infrastructure, teaching and learning evaluations, faculty dedication, and the proportion of faculty with a Ph.D. degree – are largely under the administrators' direct control. However, quality indicators less subject to administrative manipulation, such as student performance and value-added measures, exhibit minimal change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. The long-term impact of higher education: Evidence from the [formula omitted] reinstatement in China.
- Author
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Zhang, Kexin
- Subjects
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HIGHER education , *COLLEGE entrance examinations , *EDUCATIONAL change , *BASIC education ,DEVELOPING countries - Abstract
Whereas there is a large literature evaluating the impacts of education, most of the focus has been on getting to universal primary enrollment and understanding the returns to basic education; but it misses the major shifts toward higher education in many fast-growing parts of the developing world over the last 20 years. In this paper, I study the returns to higher education in China using the reinstatement of the National College Entrance Examination in 1977 as a natural experiment, investigating the causal impacts of higher education on later life outcomes and well-being. Through a combination of regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference methods, I find that cohorts that were more likely to complete high school and obtain a college education as a result of the reform were no more likely to be employed, but were more likely to have a high-socioeconomic (SES) occupation in their early 30s, and lesser of the same in their 40s. Cohorts with higher education work for fewer days in a week, and, on average, earn a higher monthly income by 56 percent in their late 40s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Student loans, spending, and parental transfers: Insights from a nudge in student loan policy in the Netherlands.
- Author
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Been, Jim and Knoef, Marike
- Subjects
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STUDENT loans , *COLLEGE costs , *DEFAULT (Finance) , *HIGHER education , *ACADEMIC achievement - Abstract
This paper investigates the effect of student loans on students' (financial) behavior. For causal identification, we exploit quasi-experimental evidence using a nudge in the take-up of student loans in higher education in the Netherlands. We estimate an instrumental variable (IV) model with a first-stage Difference-in-Differences design. We find that a decline in the default student loan reduced monthly student borrowing by 141 euros. A one-euro decline in student loans reduced students' expenditures by 61 cents, but also led to a substantial increase of parental financial contributions (43 cents). Especially expenditures on leisure activities were affected. There is no evidence for increased labor earnings among students, on average. Self-reported indicators of academic performance do not worsen in response to the reform; students' GPA even improves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Who benefits from tuition-free, top-quality universities? Evidence from Brazil.
- Author
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Duryea, Suzanne, Ribas, Rafael P., Sampaio, Breno, Sampaio, Gustavo R., and Trevisan, Giuseppe
- Subjects
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LOW-income students , *HIGHER education , *EDUCATIONAL attainment , *UNIVERSITY tuition , *TEST scoring , *SOCIAL mobility , *UNIVERSITY & college admission - Abstract
This paper investigates the long-term impact on earnings of attending a tuition-free, top-quality university in Brazil. We identify the causal effect through a sharp discontinuity in an admission process based on test scores. If admitted, low-income students are found to increase their earnings by 26% ten years later. However, admission has a small and insignificant effect on high-income students. The difference between income groups is not explained by educational attainment, program choice, or selection into better-paying jobs. The evidence suggests that most low-income applicants, if not admitted, still graduate from college but with much lower returns to education. High-income applicants who just miss the cutoff, however, can find other opportunities such that earnings trajectories are unchanged. Our results underscore the role of affordable higher education in promoting social mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Do college admissions criteria matter? Evidence from discretionary vs. grade-based admission policies.
- Author
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Kamis, Rais, Pan, Jessica, and Seah, Kelvin KC
- Subjects
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UNIVERSITY & college admission , *ACADEMIC ability , *ACADEMIC achievement , *LABOR market , *EDUCATIONAL background , *COLLEGE students - Abstract
• We examine the implications of college admissions criteria on students' outcomes. • Examine admissions at a large university with two admission tracks. • Regular admission track is based exclusively on academic performance while discretionary track considers non-academic qualities. • Discretionary admission students enjoy significantly higher earnings compared to marginal group of regular admission students. • Earnings advantage persists up to three years after graduation. This paper examines the implications of college admissions criteria on students' academic and non-academic performance in university and their labor market outcomes. We exploit a unique feature of the admissions system at a large university in Singapore, the National University of Singapore, that has two admission tracks – a regular admission track where admission is based exclusively on academic performance and a discretionary admission (DA) track where applicants can instead gain admission on the basis of demonstrated non-academic qualities. Comparing students admitted through each track, we find that DA students fare similarly in terms of academic performance in university as marginal students admitted through the regular route. However, they are significantly more likely to be involved in optional academic and non-academic college activities and earn substantially higher labor market earnings up to three years after graduation. These results are not driven by the DA process differentially selecting students on the basis of family background or unobserved academic ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. The effects of an information campaign beyond university enrolment: A large-scale field experiment on the choices of high school students.
- Author
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Ballarino, Gabriele, Filippin, Antonio, Abbiati, Giovanni, Argentin, Gianluca, Barone, Carlo, and Schizzerotto, Antonio
- Subjects
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HIGH school students , *PUBLIC service advertising , *SCHOOL choice , *HIGHER education costs , *EMPLOYMENT statistics , *COLLEGE choice - Abstract
This paper presents a large-scale field experiment assessing the impact of an intervention providing evidence-based information about costs and returns to higher education. Treatment impacts are evaluated through university enrolment, choice of field of study, and performance either at university or in the labour market. Thanks to the large sample size, treatment effects can also be assessed for subgroups (by gender and parental education). We find that treated females from high-educated families chose more economically rewarding fields of study, while treated males from low-educated families were more likely to enter the labour market. Although not necessarily in line with policy goals, choices induced by additional information were not detrimental to students' opportunities, as treated students displayed a similar academic performance and higher employment rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Do learning communities increase first year college retention? Evidence from a randomized control trial.
- Author
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Azzam, Tarek, Bates, Michael D., and Fairris, David
- Subjects
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LEARNING communities , *SCHOOL dropout prevention , *PUBLIC universities & colleges , *UNIVERSITY towns , *UNIVERSITIES & colleges , *HIGHER education - Abstract
• We estimate the impact of a learning community on first-year college retention at a four-year public research university using a randomized control trial. • Intent-to-treat and local-average-treatment-effect estimates reveal no discernable programmatic effects. • Observational approaches find impacts that are positive, large and statistically significant. • Decomposing the observational estimates reveal that non-random selection into the experimental sample accounts for the major difference in the two estimates. • This exercise cautions against generalizing the RCT result for populations outside the experiment. In this paper, we estimate the impact of a learning community on first-year college retention at a four-year public research university using a randomized control trial (RCT) for those students who opt into the experiment. Intent-to-treat and local-average-treatment-effect estimates reveal no discernable programmatic effects. We also generate estimates of program impact using observational techniques and find estimated impacts that are positive, large and statistically significant. We explore a variety of selection processes to better understand the differences between the RCT and observational estimates and to reflect on the generalizability of the RCT results for various other populations of interest. Non-random selection into the experimental sample accounts for the major difference in the two estimates and also cautions against generalizing the RCT result for populations outside the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. A failure of the market for college education and on-the-job human capital.
- Author
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Balmaceda, Felipe
- Subjects
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HUMAN capital , *HIGHER education , *MARKETING education , *EDUCATION marketing , *LOW-income parents , *STUDENT loans , *SUBSIDIES , *MARKET failure - Abstract
This paper shows that a competitive labor market fails to provide first-best incentives to invest in general human capital and this has distributive consequences: college students and firms underinvest in human capital, and this is more pronounced for high-skill students with low-income parents. Long-term contracts, together with privately provided wage-contingent loans, cannot restore efficiency and eliminate the distributive consequences of this labor market failure. Government student loans together with firm subsidies to human capital investments fully solve the market failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. With a little help from my friends: Medium-Term effects of a remedial education program targeting Roma minority
- Author
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Lara Lebedinski, Marianna Battaglia, Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Fundamentos del Análisis Económico, and Economía Laboral y Econometría (ELYE)
- Subjects
Economics and Econometrics ,Medical education ,Roma ,Fundamentos del Análisis Económico ,Higher education ,business.industry ,Remedial education ,Standardized test ,Teaching assistant ,Bridge (interpersonal) ,language.human_language ,Education ,Medium term ,Standardized test scores ,language ,Ethnic minority ,Serbian ,Psychology ,business - Abstract
A poor-performing student can achieve better results by following the footprints of an older friend. In this paper, we study a remedial education program that takes advantage of this phenomenon. Introduced in Serbian primary schools in 2009, the Roma Teaching Assistant Program targets underachieving students belonging to the Roma minority. It assigns one person, usually Roma, to each school participating to provide support to targeted pupils and create a bridge with their community. We estimate its medium-term effects on educational attainments at the end of primary school by comparing students in schools participating and in schools that applied, but were not selected, before and after the introduction of the program. The impacts on marks and standardized test scores are modest, although positive and bigger in schools with a lower percentage of Roma. Roma students are, however, more likely to choose longer secondary school tracks, a requirement for entering higher education. Financial support from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (ECO2017-83069-P) and from the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development is gratefully acknowledged.
- Published
- 2022
11. The psychological effect of a math signal
- Author
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Marianna Battaglia, Pedro Albarrán, Marcello Sartarelli, Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Fundamentos del Análisis Económico, and Economía Laboral y Econometría (ELYE)
- Subjects
History ,Economics and Econometrics ,Fundamentos del Análisis Económico ,Polymers and Plastics ,Higher education ,business.industry ,Math ,Exam score ,Achievement ,Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering ,Developmental psychology ,Education ,Regression discontinuity ,Regression discontinuity design ,Survey data collection ,Cutoff ,Business and International Management ,business ,Mathematics - Abstract
This paper tests whether barely obtaining a pass score in at least one of two midterm tests has an effect on subsequent achievement in a Math course. To estimate the effect, we created a novel dataset by linking administrative and survey data on students at a medium size Spanish university and used a regression discontinuity design in which the cutoff is 5, i.e., the pass score in the national grading system. Although obtaining a score just equal to or barely greater than 5 in midterm tests has no immediate consequence for students, it may have a psychological effect by acting as a (de)motivating signal to study and pass the course, with the sign of the effect being unclear ex-ante. We find that obtaining a pass score in at least one midterm has a positive effect on the final exam score. The result seems to be explained by higher students’ motivation when jointly accounting for their effort. Overall, our results suggest that partly unexplored psychological mechanisms may help us deepen our understanding of the determinants of achievement in higher education. Financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (ECO2015-65820-P, ECO2016-77200-P and ECO2017-87069-P), Generalitat Valenciana (Research Projects Grupos 3/086), Spain and Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas (IVIE), Spain is gratefully acknowledged.
- Published
- 2022
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