The study, conducted by Pilar Beneito, and researchers from the Institute of International Economics José Emilio Boscá and Javier Ferri, analyzes the relationship between the level and structure of university fees and the academic performance of students.
- University students react to a fee increase with greater effort, which translates into a lower repetition rate and better grades.
- The authors advocate a tiered fee design, with more expensive tuition for those repeating the course.
An interesting feature of this fee increase is that it has been greater for subject repeats than for first enrollments. Using data from a sample of students at the University of Valencia, the authors study the impact of the recent fee increases charged by this institution on (1) the average number of times a student repeats each subject, (2) the probability of passing on the first attempt, and (3) average grades. The analysis uses a statistical model of differences-in-differences in which the control group is formed by those students who have not been affected by the increase in fees because they are exempt from them (basically, students from large families and those with disabilities).
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