Evaluating the impact of student learning support programs in an open-access, low-tuition higher education institution

Antoine Platteau, Philippe Emplit, Dorothée Baillet and Catherine Dehon

No 2026-02, Working Papers ECARES from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Abstract: Faced with high failure rates in higher education, many institutions have introduced learning support programs to enhance student success. This study evaluates the causal impact of a peer tutoring program in the low-tuition, open-access context of French-speaking Belgian universities, using data from the Université libre de Bruxelles. Applying propensity score matching, results show that tutoring improves first-year students’ grades, by 1 to 2.5 points out of 20 and enables one third of participants to pass courses they would otherwise have failed. These findings complete existing evidence from selective systems and highlight peer tutoring as a cost-effective way to promote success.

Keywords: Student Learning Support; Peer Tutoring; Academic Performance; Belgian Higher Education; Impact Evaluation; Propensity Score Matching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 C35 I21 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 p.
Date: 2026-01-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published by:

Downloads: (external link)
https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/4015 ... ntlearning202602.pdf Œuvre complète ou partie de l'œuvre (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/401509

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://hdl.handle.ne ... lb.ac.be:2013/401509

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers ECARES from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Benoit Pauwels ().