Voting with Their Feet: Quality of Universities Matters for Students
ResearchWhen it comes to choosing where to study, economics students in Germany are taking note of the varying quality of universities, rather than focusing on admission restrictions.
Students prefer to enrol at universities with a better academic reputation. This is the finding of a study carried out by the Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW).
Looking specifically at students of Economics, ZEW investigated the factors that determine the number of students at individual universities in Germany. The results show that the students take several criteria into account when choosing where to study. An important factor is the quality of the university. The better the reputation in a given subject area, the more students are attracted to the campus. To determine the quality of each university, ZEW compared various university rankings. Comparisons indicated that rankings based on surveys carried out amongst professors play a significant role in explaining students' university choices. Rankings based on surveys carried out amongst students, however, seem to have little influence on students' choices.
As well as studying at a high-quality university, students also prefer to study in towns with low rents. Considering the rather high rents in Munich or Heidelberg, the universities there struggle to convince students with their high-quality education. In addition, students also consider the distance between their universities and home towns. The closer the university is to home, the more likely a student is to enrol there.
These results constitute good arguments for granting universities greater autonomy. Given that students choose where to study on the basis of the education quality, greater competition between universities may lead to a general improvement in higher education standards. If poor-quality courses are less in demand, the public purse can fund high-quality education more effectively. Granting universities more autonomy would therefore see them move up in international rankings.
Contact
Prof. Dr. Thiess Büttner, E-Mail: buettner@zew.de
Dr. Margit Kraus, E-mail: kraus@zew.de