First-generation tuition waiver pushes up technical education enrolment: IIMB study

A tuition waiver for first-generation college students in Tamil Nadu significantly increased their participation in technical education and improved their prospects of completing technical degrees, according to a new study by IIM Bangalore (IIMB).The study examines Tamil Nadu’s government’s First-Generation Graduate Scholarship (FGGS), introduced in 2010-2011, which waives tuition fees for students from households where no member has completed a college degree. Unlike reservation policies, eligibility is not linked to caste, religion, gender or income. Students first secure admission through the regular process and can then avail of themselves of the fee waiver.The researchers, IIMB professor Soham Sahoo and Gopinath Annadurai of IIM Udaipur, found that the scheme increased technical course enrolment among eligible first-generation students by about 3.7 percentage points. Among students already enrolled in college, the likelihood of choosing a technical stream increased by around eight percentage points.“The gains extend across the educational pathway,” Professor Sahoo told DH. He added that the similar magnitude of the increase in technical enrolment and graduation suggested that the scheme affected not just entry into technical education but also eventual completion. However, the benefits were not evenly distributed. Male students gained substantially more than female students, particularly in the choice of technical courses.IIM Bangalore to get its first overseas campus in Indonesia, announces PM Modi“One possible explanation is that tuition costs are an important barrier, while women may simultaneously face additional constraints related to mobility, safety and spatial access. Our descriptive evidence supports this interpretation: among first-generation students in professional courses, women tend to attend institutions closer to home than men,” said Sahoo.The waiver also did not cover all education-related expenses. Tuition accounted for about 54% of education expenditure among technical-course students in Tamil Nadu, with examination fees, other institutional charges, books and transport making up the rest. The study found increased reliance on education loans, largely from formal lenders, to meet these residual costs.Employment opportunitiesThe effects extended into the labour market. Beneficiaries were more likely to have regular salaried employment, move from agriculture towards services and work in associate-professional occupations requiring specialised technical skills. Household monthly per-capita expenditure also increased. At the same time, the study found higher job-seeking and unemployment, which researchers said could partly reflect graduates waiting for jobs that better match their qualifications.Karnataka has particular relevance to the findings. It was one of the two neighbouring states, along with Kerala, used as a control group in the study because of similarities with Tamil Nadu in socio-economic and education indicators. The researchers found broadly comparable pre-policy levels of higher and technical education participation in the three states.Asked whether a similar model could work in Karnataka, Sahoo said Tamil Nadu’s experience offers useful evidence, but the study does not directly assess how such a policy would perform in Karnataka. A first-generation tuition waiver could complement existing reservation policies without changing the allocation of reserved seats, he said, while noting that Karnataka would need to consider its own higher-education context and constraints.“The number who would benefit from a similar policy would depend on how such a scheme is designed, including the courses covered, eligibility rules and take-up,” he said.

Source: Deccan Herald