Who Goes Online? Selection and performance in Italian higher education

Raffaello Bronzini (), Luca De Benedictis (), Edoardo Frattola () and Elena Lazzaro ()
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Raffaello Bronzini: Bank of Italy
Luca De Benedictis: Universitas Mercatorum (CRIAVET) and LUISS
Edoardo Frattola: Bank of Italy
Elena Lazzaro: Bank of Italy

No 1040, Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: Online universities have expanded rapidly in Italy over the past two decades. Leveraging administrative data linked to standardized pre-university test scores, this paper examines the demographic profile and academic outcomes of online students. Compared to their peers in traditional institutions, online enrollees tend to be older, more frequently come from technical or vocational tracks, and have lower high-school grades and standardized test scores. Controlling for these initial disadvantages, they have lower dropout rates and higher on-time completion rates at the bachelor's level. However, performance declines when transitioning from an online bachelor's to a traditional master's degree program. Our findings also suggest that online universities make access to tertiary education viable for individuals who would otherwise be more likely to be excluded: enrollment growth has been concentrated in provinces with historically low participation in higher education and among students with an ex-ante lower likelihood of enrolling.

Keywords: online education; higher education access; student performance; educational inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I24 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1040_26

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