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

Gibbons, Stephen, Neumayer, Eric and Perkins, Richard (2015) Student satisfaction, league tables and university applications: evidence from Britain. Economics of Education Review, 48 . pp. 148-164. ISSN 0272-7757

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02727...
Additional Information:	© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
Library of Congress subject classification:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
Journal of Economic Literature Classification System:	D - Microeconomics > D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty H - Public Economics > H0 - General I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education
Sets:	Departments > Geography and Environment Research centres and groups > Spatial Economics Research Centre Collections > Economists Online Research centres and groups > Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)
Funders:	Economic and Social Research Council, UK Government Department of Business Innovation and Skills, Welsh Advisory Government
Projects:	ES/J021342/1
Date Deposited:	31 Jul 2015 11:29
URL:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/62875/

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