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Student satisfaction, league tables and university applications: evidence from Britain

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  • Gibbons, Stephen
  • Neumayer, Eric
  • Perkins, Richard

Abstract

We investigate the impact of information about student satisfaction on university choice, using data from the UK's National Student Survey (NSS) and on applications to undergraduate degrees. We show that NSS scores have a small statistically significant effect on applications at the university-subject level. This effect operates via the influence of the NSS on a university's position in separately published, subject-specific league tables, suggesting that information contained in the league table rankings is more salient. The impact of rankings is greater for more able students, for universities with entry standards in the upper-middle tier, and for subject-departments facing more competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Gibbons, Stephen & Neumayer, Eric & Perkins, Richard, 2015. "Student satisfaction, league tables and university applications: evidence from Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 62875, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:62875
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    3. Bauer, Anna & Gerner, Hans-Dieter & Jäckle, Robert & Mummert, Uwe & Sandner, Malte & Seebens, Holger, 2023. "OHM Happiness Report (OHR)," MPRA Paper 117403, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. David I. Stern & Richard S. J. Tol, 2021. "Depth and breadth relevance in citation metrics," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(3), pages 961-977, July.
    5. Carl Singleton & Adrian r. Bell & Andy Chung & J. James Reade & Andrew Urquhart, 2024. "Scoring goals: The impact of English Premier League football teams on local university admissions," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2024-02, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
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    7. Kumar Biswas & Sudipta Bose & Millicent Chang & Syed Shams, 2023. "Determinants and consequences of student satisfaction in Australian Universities: Evidence from QILT Surveys," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 1821-1850, June.
    8. Mehmet Pinar, 2023. "Do research performances of universities and disciplines in England converge or diverge? An assessment of the progress between research excellence frameworks in 2014 and 2021," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(10), pages 5731-5766, October.
    9. Rhys J. Williams, 2022. "The effect of casual teaching on student satisfaction: evidence from the UK," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 91-111, January.
    10. Yuta Kuroda, 2022. "What does the disclosure of school quality information bring? The effect through the housing market," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 125-149, January.
    11. Biancardi, Daniele & Bratti, Massimiliano, 2019. "The effect of introducing a Research Evaluation Exercise on student enrolment: Evidence from Italy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 73-93.
    12. Biancardi, Daniele & Bratti, Massimiliano, 2018. "The Effect of the First Italian Research Evaluation Exercise on Student Enrolment Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 11302, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    student satisfaction; higher education; information; university choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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