On the “income advantage” in course choices and admissions: Evidence from the University of the Philippines

Sarah Lynne Daway-Ducanes, Elena E. Pernia and Vincent Jerald R. Ramos

International Journal of Educational Development, 2022, vol. 91, issue C

Abstract: The empirical evidence in developed economies suggests a rise in inequality of access to higher education in favor of students from higher-income households. Is this ‘income advantage’ also pronounced in developing economies like the Philippines, where there have been recent deliberate efforts by the government to democratize access to higher education? Using quantitative (logistic regression) analysis on proprietary admissions data from the country’s largest and foremost state university – the University of the Philippines (UP) System (whose students are labeled locally as “Scholars of the People”) – for the period 2006–2015, we find that there is an `income advantage’ not only in terms of being admitted to the UP System, but also in being admitted to the first-choice course cluster: Applicants coming from richer households have higher probabilities of being admitted to UP. However, no such ‘income advantage’ is apparent with regard to the choice of a Science and Technology (S&T) course over a non-S&T course. Other significant determinants of admission to the UP system and to one’s first-choice course cluster are being male, high school grade weighted average, high school type, and high school region. Our results suggest that the new free tuition policy at public universities and colleges, including the UP system, is more likely to disproportionately benefit students coming from higher-income families.

Keywords: Course choice; Admissions inequality; Higher education; Philippines (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:injoed:v:91:y:2022:i:c:s0738059322000281

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102578

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