Do Tuition Fees Affect the Mobility of University Applicants? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Nadja Dwenger, Johanna Storck () and Katharina Wrohlich

No 4421, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Several German states recently introduced tuition fees for university education. We investigate whether these tuition fees influence the mobility of university applicants. Based on administrative data of applicants for medical schools in Germany, we estimate the effect of tuition fees on the probability of applying for a university in the home state. We find a small but significant reaction: The probability of applying for a university in the home state falls by 2 percentage points ( baseline: 69%) for high-school graduates who come from a state with tuition fees. Moreover, we find that students with lower high-school grades react more strongly to tuition fees. This might have important effects on the composition of students across states.

Keywords: natural experiment; mobility of high-school graduates; tuition fees (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 I22 I28 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2009-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lab and nep-mig
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: Economics of Education Review, 2012, 31 (1), 155-167

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Related works:
Journal Article: Do tuition fees affect the mobility of university applicants? Evidence from a natural experiment (2012)
Working Paper: Do Tuition Fees Affect the Mobility of University Applicants?: Evidence from a Natural Experiment (2009)
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