Tuition fees and educational attainment

Jan Bietenbeck, Andreas Leibing, Jan Marcus and Felix Weinhardt

European Economic Review, 2023, vol. 154, issue C

Abstract: Following a landmark court ruling in 2005, more than half of Germany’s universities started charging tuition fees, which were later abolished in a staggered manner. We exploit the fact that even students who were already enrolled had to start paying fees. We show that fees increase study effort and degree completion among these students. However, fees also decrease first-time university enrollment among high school graduates. Combining this enrollment impact with the effect on completion, we find that fees around the zero-price margin have only little effect on overall educational attainment. We conclude by discussing policies targeting the separate effect margins of fees and caution against a general abolition.

Keywords: Tuition fees; Higher education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Related works:
Working Paper: Tuition fees and educational attainment (2022)
Working Paper: Tuition fees and educational attainment (2022)
Working Paper: Tuition Fees and Educational Attainment (2020)
Working Paper: Tuition Fees and Educational Attainment (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:154:y:2023:i:c:s0014292123000600

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104431

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