Advait Aiyer, PhD Candidate, The Wharton School; Santosh Anagol, Business Economics and Public Policy, The Wharton School
Abstract: This project explores the effect of government price intervention on student enrollment decisions and education quality in private higher education markets with centralized admissions. In particular, the emphasis will be on understanding changes in the enrollment patterns and educational outcomes of historically underrepresented ethnic groups (Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes). Using a combination of reduced form and structural modeling approaches this project will (a) analyze the direct and unintended consequences of a government mandated tuition price increase on overall enrollment as well as the enrollment behavior of poor and marginalized students, (b) explore the market-wide effects of regulatory policies and tuition price hikes on college input decisions and optimal education quality, and (c) quantify the allocative, distributive, and overall welfare consequences of government price intervention in private higher education markets.