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Elements and Symptoms of a Poor Higher Education system: Evidence from a Greek University

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Abstract

University studies in Greece are characterized by a symptom usually described as ‘prolonged student status.’ It refers to students who prolong the period of their studies beyond the normal time, sometimes by many years. This paper, besides recording the distribution of the duration of studies in a public institution, reveals that a longer period of studies is strongly and negatively associated with academic performance. Then, it seeks to identify the causes of the symptom by examining two hypotheses. The first attributes prolonged student status to the operation of some objective factors such as differences in students’ initial abilities and differences in students’ socio-economic background. The second hypothesis associates a long stay at the university with the educational setting. The existing evidence lends support to the second hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Elias Katsikas, 2009. "Elements and Symptoms of a Poor Higher Education system: Evidence from a Greek University," Discussion Paper Series 2009_17, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised Dec 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:mcd:mcddps:2009_17
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    duration of studies; performance; teaching environment; learning outcomes; educational setting.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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