Work

The Expansion of Higher Education in Colombia: Bad Students or Bad Programs?

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: A rapid expansion in demand for post-secondary education triggered an unprecedented boom in higher education programs in Colombia, raising concerns about their pertinence and quality. This paper shows that the penalty on student learning and labor-market outcomes of attending a recently created program is large but, to a large extent, driven by student and program selection. Using rich administrative data that match higher education school admission information, socioeconomic characteristics of the young graduates, standardized test scores pre- and post-higher education, and formal labor-market outcomes, we characterize this selection process, disentangling the relative roles of demand and supply forces. The main factor behind the learning penalty is student selection in baseline ability. In the case of labor-market outcomes, the penalty is due to a combination of student and program characteristics.

Source: The World Bank Economic Review

DOI: 10.1093/wber/lhaf006

Authors: Adriana Camacho, Julián Messina, Juan Pablo Uribe

Institutions: CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, University of Alicante, Cornerstone Research Group (United States)

Language: English

Topic: Higher Education in Latin America

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W4408526624

FWCI: 9.598

Cites: 41

Cited by: 3

Related to: 10