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Prof. Ludger Woessmann

CESifo Group Munich, University of Münich, Germany

Authors: Philipp Lergetporer and Ludger Woessmann

Abstract: The public’s preferences for tuition fees are crucial for determining how higher education systems are financed. We devise a series of randomized survey experiments in representative samples of the German adult population to test whether public support for university tuition fees is affected by two factors: providing information about the relative earnings of university graduates and making fee payments contingent on graduates’ later earnings. We find that, first, informing respondents about university graduates’ relative earnings changes a public plurality against regular tuition fees into a public plurality in favor of tuition fees. Second, devising tuition fees in a way that is contingent on future incomes changes public support into a strong majority in favor of tuition fees.