IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/rwirep/984.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Student performance in large cohorts: Evidence from unexpected enrollment shocks

Author

Listed:
  • Hertweck, Friederike

Abstract

This article investigates the effects of large groups of first-year students on individual college performance. The study is based on administrative micro-level data from the universe of higher education institutions in Germany. The empirical strategy exploits shocks in undergraduate enrollment induced by policymakers' underestimation of expected demand for college. The results show that students in large cohorts of freshmen have a lower probability to complete their degree on-time, partly because students take longer to attain their college degree and partly because more students are forced to de-register. The results are relevant for policymakers to promote educational expansion without jeopardizing student performance. @Diese Studie untersucht die Auswirkungen großer Studienanfangskohorten auf den individuellen Studiumserfolg. Sie basiert auf administrativen Mikrodaten aller Hochschulen in Deutschland. Die Unterschätzung der erwarteten Nachfrage nach Studienplätzen durch die Kultusministerkonferenz wird hierbei als Immatrikulationsschock empirisch ausgenutzt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Studenten in großen Studienanfängerkohorten eine geringere Wahrscheinlichkeit haben, ihr Studium in der Regelstudienzeit abzuschließen, zum Einen, weil sie mehr Semester benötigen, ihren Hochschulabschluss zu erreichen, und zum Anderen, weil mehr Studierende ihr Studium "endgültig nicht bestanden" haben und so ohne Abschluss exmatrikuliert wurden. Die Ergebnisse sind für politische Entscheidungsträger von Bedeutung, um die Bildungsexpansion zu fördern, ohne den Erfolg der Studierenden zu gefährden.

Suggested Citation

  • Hertweck, Friederike, 2022. "Student performance in large cohorts: Evidence from unexpected enrollment shocks," Ruhr Economic Papers 984, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:984
    DOI: 10.4419/96973149
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/266697/1/1824415303.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4419/96973149?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huebener, Mathias & Marcus, Jan, 2017. "Compressing instruction time into fewer years of schooling and the impact on student performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Jesse Levin, 2001. "For whom the reductions count: A quantile regression analysis of class size and peer effects on scholastic achievement," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 221-246.
    3. Scott E. Carrell & Richard L. Fullerton & James E. West, 2009. "Does Your Cohort Matter? Measuring Peer Effects in College Achievement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(3), pages 439-464, July.
    4. Oriana Bandiera & Valentino Larcinese & Imran Rasul, 2010. "Heterogeneous Class Size Effects: New Evidence from a Panel of University Students," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(549), pages 1365-1398, December.
    5. Julia Horstschr�er & Maresa Sprietsma, 2015. "The effects of the introduction of Bachelor degrees on college enrollment and dropout rates," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 296-317, June.
    6. Simone Dobbelsteen & Jesse Levin & Hessel Oosterbeek, 2002. "The causal effect of class size on scholastic achievement: distinguishing the pure class size effect from the effect of changes in class composition," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 64(1), pages 17-38, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giacomo De Giorgi & Michele Pellizzari & William Gui Woolston, 2012. "Class Size And Class Heterogeneity," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 795-830, August.
    2. Kedagni, Desire & Krishna, Kala & Megalokonomou, Rigissa & Zhao, Yingyan, 2021. "Does class size matter? How, and at what cost?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Ma, Lingjie & Koenker, Roger, 2006. "Quantile regression methods for recursive structural equation models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 471-506, October.
    4. By Vincenzo Carrieri & Marcello D’Amato & Roberto Zotti, 2015. "On the causal effects of selective admission policies on students’ performances: evidence from a quasi-experiment in a large Italian university," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(4), pages 1034-1056.
    5. Victor Lavy & Olmo Silva & Felix Weinhardt, 2012. "The Good, the Bad, and the Average: Evidence on Ability Peer Effects in Schools," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(2), pages 367-414.
    6. Alexei Karas, 2021. "The effect of class size on grades and course evaluations: Evidence from multisection courses," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(4), pages 624-642, October.
    7. Ludger Wößmann, 2003. "European education production functions: what makes a difference for student achievement in Europe?," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 190, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    8. Argaw, Bethlehem A. & Puhani, Patrick A., 2018. "Does class size matter for school tracking outcomes after elementary school? Quasi-experimental evidence using administrative panel data from Germany," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 48-57.
    9. Oliver Himmler & Robert Jäckle & Philipp Weinschenk, 2019. "Soft Commitments, Reminders, and Academic Performance," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 114-142, April.
    10. Graham McKee & Katharine Sims & Steven Rivkin, 2015. "Disruption, learning, and the heterogeneous benefits of smaller classes," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1267-1286, May.
    11. repec:got:cegedp:57 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Entorf, Horst & Lauk, Martina, 2006. "Peer Effects, Social Multipliers and Migrants at School: An International Comparison," IZA Discussion Papers 2182, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Matej Opatrny & Tomas Havranek & Zuzana Irsova & Milan Scasny, 2023. "Publication Bias and Model Uncertainty in Measuring the Effect of Class Size on Achievement," Working Papers IES 2023/19, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised May 2023.
    14. Denny, Kevin & Oppedisano, Veruska, 2013. "The surprising effect of larger class sizes: Evidence using two identification strategies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 57-65.
    15. Harding, Matthew & Lamarche, Carlos, 2014. "Estimating and testing a quantile regression model with interactive effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 178(P1), pages 101-113.
    16. Aina, Carmen & Baici, Eliana & Casalone, Giorgia & Pastore, Francesco, 2022. "The determinants of university dropout: A review of the socio-economic literature," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Jan Marcus & Vaishali Zambre, 2019. "The Effect of Increasing Education Efficiency on University Enrollment: Evidence from Administrative Data and an Unusual Schooling Reform in Germany," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(2), pages 468-502.
    18. Maria De Paola & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2011. "The Effects Of Class Size On The Achievement Of College Students," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 79(6), pages 1061-1079, December.
    19. Brade, Raphael & Himmler, Oliver & Jäckle, Robert, 2018. "Normatively Framed Relative Performance Feedback – Field Experiment and Replication," MPRA Paper 88830, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. repec:dew:wpaper:2014-02 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Carter, Susan Payne & Greenberg, Kyle & Walker, Michael S., 2017. "The impact of computer usage on academic performance: Evidence from a randomized trial at the United States Military Academy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 118-132.
    22. Wen Fan, 2011. "School tenure and student achievement," Working Papers 201124, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Higher education; cohort size; student performance; schooling reforms; policy evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:984. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rwiesde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.