Essays on Tertiary Education: Access to University, Student Loans and Economic Independence.

Questa tesi raccoglie tre articoli che analizzano alcune delle scelte affrontate dagli studenti per ottenere il titolo universitario. Tali articoli sono stati realizzati nell'ambito del progetto STAREBEI, finanziato dalla Banca Centrale Europea, per un'indagine sui prestiti d'onore coordinato dal Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche dell'Università di Verona. Nell'ambito dell'indagine sono stati intervistati 2.703 studenti frequentanti la classe quinta di 50 scuole superiori del Veneto e 3.580 studenti universitari. Attraverso un questionario online sono state raccolte informazioni molto dettagliate sulle condizioni socio-economiche dei rispondenti. Il primo capitolo mette in relazione la scelta di andare all'università con l'eterogeneità degli studenti di quinta superiore. Il secondo capitolo si concentra invece sull'attitudine degli studenti di chiedere un prestito d'onore allo scopo di frequentare l'università. Il terzo capitolo analizza come l'emancipazioni economica sia prevalente tra gli studenti, descrivendo il profilo di chi desidera una certa autonomia economica dai genitori. All'interno di ogni capitolo, in particolare il primo e il secondo, vengono indicate le misure di policy più adeguate per incentivare le scelte oggetto dell'analisi.

This thesis contains three essays on the economics of tertiary education, an investment that has important consequences on the economic and social outcomes of individuals, leading through the first challenges in the transition from youth to adulthood. The research uses a sample of high school leavers of the Veneto region, located in the North-East of Italy, and a nationwide sample of university students. The first chapter analyzes how circumstances and individual responsibilities relate to the intention to enroll in tertiary education, using the sample of high school leavers from the Veneto region. Multinomial logit analysis reveals that the student's enrollment choice is not related to the household income. It is also found that family circumstances have a lower impact than individual characteristics and personal efforts. Therefore, school talent, both innate and acquired through personal efforts, is a necessary prerequisite to justify further investments in tertiary education by families. The second study investigates how student's circumstances, individual characteristics and attitudes relate to the decision to take up a student loan. In general, students are not interested in student loans as an instrument to equalize opportunities of access, since in Italy tuition fees are very low and all the Italian universities issue degrees with a legal value. It is found that working students, students enrolled in university at a later stage and students wishing to change universities are relatively more willing to take up a student loan. Italian youngsters see student loans mainly as a means to emancipate from their families. Income is an important factor and is negatively correlated with the willingness to take up a loan. Loan and debt averse students are not prone to borrow independently of income. Good students with superior earning prospects show a higher propensity to borrow. Risk and time preferences, differently from previous studies, do not seem relevant determinants of the loan choice. Italian families still act as an insurance mechanism against the risks embedded in the investment in human capital. The third chapter examines the relationship between the aspiration to gain economic independence from parents and circumstances, individual characteristics and measures of individual efforts. Youth emancipation is the final outcome of a set of factors: constructive parental family ties, freedom in choosing the adequate living arrangement, fulfillment of educational and working aspirations, economic independence and active participation in social and emotional life. It is found that 53% of the high school and 60% of the university respondents claim for economic independence from their parents. Italian youngsters are not as comfortable as traditionally believed with their economic dependence on parental resources. Estimation results show that individual characteristics are the main determinants of the aspiration to economic independence. These are important findings since they imply that government policies designed to encourage the development of youth preferences and attitudes have the potential to encourage economic emancipation.