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The Completion Shift of German Universities of Applied Sciences

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  • Gralka, Sabine
  • Wohlrabe, Klaus
  • Bornmann, Lutz

Abstract

In research on higher education, the evaluation of completion and drop-out rates has generated a steady stream of interest for decades. While most studies only calculate quotes using student and graduate numbers for both phenomena, we propose to also consider the budget available to universities. We transfer the idea of the excellence shift from the research (Bornmann et al., 2017) to the teaching area, and particularly to the completion rate of educational entities. The completion shift shows institutions’ ability to produce graduates as measured against their basic academic teaching efficiency, thereby avoiding the well-known heterogeneity problem in efficiency measurement. Their politically determined focus on education makes German universities of applied science the perfect sample for evaluating this novel method. Using a comprehensive dataset covering the years 2008 to 2013, we show that the shift produces results, which correlate considerably with the results of the standard Data Envelopment Approach (DEA). Thus, we recommend the completion shift as an alternative method of efficiency measurement in the teaching area. Compared to DEA, the computation of the shift is easy and the results are understandable to non-economists.

Suggested Citation

  • Gralka, Sabine & Wohlrabe, Klaus & Bornmann, Lutz, 2017. "The Completion Shift of German Universities of Applied Sciences," MPRA Paper 82794, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:82794
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kristof De Witte & Laura López-Torres, 2017. "Efficiency in education: a review of literature and a way forward," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(4), pages 339-363, April.
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    3. Lutz Bornmann & Klaus Wohlrabe & Felix Moya Anegon, 2017. "Calculating the excellence shift: How efficiently do institutions produce highly cited papers?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(3), pages 1859-1864, September.
    4. Maria Olivares & Heike Wetzel, 2014. "Editor's Choice Competing in the Higher Education Market: Empirical Evidence for Economies of Scale and Scope in German Higher Education Institutions," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 60(4), pages 653-680.
    5. Tommaso Agasisti & Sabine Gralka, 2019. "The transient and persistent efficiency of Italian and German universities: a stochastic frontier analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(46), pages 5012-5030, October.
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    9. Mehdi Rhaiem, 2017. "Measurement and determinants of academic research efficiency: a systematic review of the evidence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 581-615, February.
    10. Sabine Gralka, 2018. "Persistent inefficiency in the higher education sector: evidence from Germany," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 373-392, July.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Efficiency; Completion Shift; DEA; Students; Universities of Applied Sciences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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