Taking advantage of COVID-19? Online learning, descentralization and tertiary education
Resumen:
Distance to university has been shown as an important factor for students’ decisions to continue studying after secondary school and for their academic outcomes. Therefore, the generalized shift to online learning could have opened a window of opportunity for those students living in places lacking a university campus. Following a difference-in-differences strategy, I compare students that already lived in an area with or close to the university (control group) with students that live far away (treated). I take advantage of the institutional setting in Uruguay, where the public university is free and without entrance exam but with campuses only in half of the territory. The data come from administrative records for the period 2017-2021. Results show less adverse effects in terms of dropouts for the treated freshmen students of 2020 but no effects on other academic outcomes conditional on dropout. In addition, I find an enrollment increase in localities without university campuses for 2021.
La distancia a la universidad es un factor importante para las decisiones de los estudiantes de continuar estudiando después de la secundaria y para sus resultados académicos. Por lo tanto, el cambio generalizado al aprendizaje en línea derivado de la pandemia podría haber abierto una ventana de oportunidad para aquellos estudiantes que viven en lugares lejanos a la universidad. Para analizar esto aprovecho el marco institucional de Uruguay, donde la universidad pública es gratuita y sin examen de ingreso pero con campus solo en la mitad del territorio y sigo una estrategia de diferencias en diferencias, comparando estudiantes que ya vivían en un área cerca de la universidad (grupo de control) con estudiantes que viven lejos (tratados). Los resultados muestran menos efectos adversos en términos de deserción para los estudiantes de primer año tratados de 2020, pero ningún efecto en otros resultados académicos condicionados a la deserción. Además, encuentro un aumento de la matrícula en localidades sin campus universitarios para el 2021.
| 2023 | |
|
Online learning Difference-in- differences Internal migration Educational outcomes Aprendizaje en línea Diferencia en diferencias Migración interna Resultados educativos ECONOMIA DE LA EDUCACION EDUCACION A DISTANCIA EDUCACION UNIVERSITARIA |
|
| Inglés | |
| Universidad de la República | |
| COLIBRI | |
| https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/39756 | |
| Acceso abierto | |
| Licencia Creative Commons Atribución - No Comercial - Sin Derivadas (CC - By-NC-ND 4.0) |
| Sumario: | Distance to university has been shown as an important factor for students’ decisions to continue studying after secondary school and for their academic outcomes. Therefore, the generalized shift to online learning could have opened a window of opportunity for those students living in places lacking a university campus. Following a difference-in-differences strategy, I compare students that already lived in an area with or close to the university (control group) with students that live far away (treated). I take advantage of the institutional setting in Uruguay, where the public university is free and without entrance exam but with campuses only in half of the territory. The data come from administrative records for the period 2017-2021. Results show less adverse effects in terms of dropouts for the treated freshmen students of 2020 but no effects on other academic outcomes conditional on dropout. In addition, I find an enrollment increase in localities without university campuses for 2021. |
|---|
